Is your Alberta-based pharmacy protected properly from theft? With crime rates on the up, pharmaceutical security should be a priority for your business.
2021 has seen a huge spike in pharmacy theft in Edmonton when compared to the previous few years. According to CTV News Edmonton, Alberta's capital city has already seen 28 pharmacy robberies - either failed or successful - occur by May 2021 alone.
That was compared to a total of 26 robberies for all of 2019 and 2020 combined - a huge difference in just the first five months of the year!
"Not surprising either," Det. David Green told CTV News Edmonton. "B.C. had a real problem with it a few years back. They implemented some measures, specifically time-delay safes… which had a tremendous effect.”
With that in mind, what can your pharmacy do to prevent theft? Sonitrol Western Canada has listed five tips here:
1 - Protect your facility with a verified alarm system
Move away from traditional CCTV and use a verified security solution to protect your pharmacy’s assets. Verified security doesn’t just record break-ins and thefts, instead intrusions are verified through a security expert in a central monitoring station and then reported immediately to the police.
Since these intrusions are verified, we have the lowest false alarm rates in the industry and police respond to our alarms in just 3.5 minutes. You’ll be able to catch thieves red-handed before they make off with any of your products!
2 - Prevent internal theft by regulating who goes where and when
It’s unfortunate, but internal theft is a reality in any business and your pharmacy is no different. That means it’s crucial that your organization has complete visibility into your employees’ actions and their whereabouts at all times.
Managed access control, or keyless entry, limits access to your stock by only giving access to those rooms to employees’ with a key card. With reporting functionality, you’ll know exactly who was in what room and at what time. If an internal theft occurs, you’ll know exactly who was in the room,
3 - Install time-delay safes
As pointed out in the above quote, pharmacies have had great success in preventing theft by installing time-delay safes. These safes deter robberies in your pharmacy by electronically delaying the time it takes the pharmacy employees to be able to open the safe.
A code must be entered to open the safe, which then automatically triggers a wait time before the safe is unlocked. This discourages thieves as the longer they remain at the crime scene, the higher the chance that they’ll get caught.
4 - Ensure your staff know security best practices
Security isn’t just about the technology you use, it’s about training your employees to protect your business. They should be able to spot the signs of peculiar behaviour, and know how to react in the event they see something suspicious. This isn’t only important for the security of your business, but also for the protection of your employees and customers.
5 - Identify the security weakness that are unique to your business
Each individual pharmacy has their own security weakness, so implementing out-of-the-box security systems isn't going to give you the protection you need. Instead, you need to come up with a unique security plan that works for the specific needs of your facility.
Want to learn more? Get a free pharmacy security plan today with Sonitrol Western Canada.
