The One Audit Question That Reveals Continuity in Security
The auditor calmly goes through his checklist and asks a question that, at first glance, seems insignificant: How is access arranged for someone who needs to enter the building outside of regular hours? The security guard behind the desk looks at his screen and visibly searches for guidance in a folder next to him. After a brief silence, he replies that his colleague normally handles these kinds of requests. On paper, nothing is wrong here, because the procedures are clearly defined and the systems are working properly. Yet in that single moment of silence, it becomes clear that security continuity at this location relies on the routine of a single person. At SERIS, we encounter this situation more often than you might expect. It’s rarely anyone’s fault and almost always the result of something that had been going very well for years.
Continuity Security continuity often hinges on a single name more often than you might think
At SERIS, setting up facility security at a location begins with a team that is jointly responsible for its implementation, led by a regional team leader or contract manager who oversees the entire process. Several security guards are thoroughly familiar with the specifics of the location, including the nuances you can only learn by actually being there. New colleagues therefore go through an onboarding program in which they work alongside experienced staff. An assessment then determines whether someone knows the location well enough to work a shift independently. Only when the night shift mechanic and the Monday morning incident report no longer come as surprises is someone allowed to work there alone. We treat work instructions as living documents that evolve alongside on-site practices. We pay close attention to the handoff between shifts, because knowledge is most easily lost in the few minutes between when one colleague puts on their jacket and another logs in.
After the onboarding period, workplace inspections ensure that quality standards are strictly maintained on-site. A regional team leader regularly checks whether operations are still in line with the agreements and whether the work instructions still reflect actual practices. This way, discrepancies between theory and practice come to light before an auditor or a substitute colleague discovers them. SERIS didn’t come up with this approach overnight; we’ve been providing security services to businesses since 1915—first in Dordrecht and now with more than 400 employees in Rotterdam, the Drechtsteden, the Randstad, North Brabant, and Zeeland. In over a hundred years, we’ve learned above all that a location is only truly stable when quality doesn’t decline the moment an individual colleague leaves.
What a substitute can't know
As soon as a replacement takes over the shift, everything seems fine at first. The instructions are correct, the rounds are completed as prescribed, and the reports come in on time. The differences lie at a deeper level—in unwritten agreements that arose out of practical necessity without anyone ever formally documenting them. Think of the refrigeration system repairman who is let in the middle of the night without question because everyone knows him, or the test alert from the fire alarm control panel that’s allowed to be ignored every Monday morning. The substitute security guard does exactly what is asked of him. At the same time, he cannot possibly take into account agreements that were never shared with him. What follows are minor differences in execution that seem harmless on their own, until they add up to questions and additional coordination that the client really doesn’t want to deal with.
An audit looks beyond the daily routine and assesses how processes are structurally organized. The auditor probes further into transferability and documentation. He expects answers that hold up regardless of who happens to be on duty that day. Answers that start with “how a colleague normally handles it” tell him exactly what he wants to know, but in a way the organization would have preferred to avoid. For SERIS, therefore, an audit is never a cause for nervousness. A location where continuity is well-ensured gains from such an assessment, above all, the confirmation that its structure is sound.
This is how SERIS ensures continuity in security
At SERIS, setting up facility security at a location begins with a team that is jointly responsible for its implementation, led by a regional team leader or contract manager who oversees the entire process. Several security guards are thoroughly familiar with the specifics of the location, including the nuances you can only learn by actually being there. New colleagues therefore go through an onboarding program in which they work alongside experienced staff. An assessment then determines whether someone knows the location well enough to work a shift independently. Only when the night shift mechanic and the Monday morning incident report no longer come as surprises is someone allowed to work there alone. We treat work instructions as living documents that evolve alongside on-site practices. We pay close attention to the handoff between shifts, because knowledge is most easily lost in the few minutes between when one colleague puts on their jacket and another logs in.
After the onboarding period, workplace inspections ensure that quality standards are strictly maintained on-site. A regional team leader regularly checks whether operations are still in line with the agreements and whether the work instructions still reflect actual practices. This way, discrepancies between theory and practice come to light before an auditor or a substitute colleague discovers them. SERIS didn’t come up with this approach overnight; we’ve been providing security services to businesses since 1915—first in Dordrecht and now with more than 400 employees in Rotterdam, the Drechtsteden, the Randstad, North Brabant, and Zeeland. In over a hundred years, we’ve learned above all that a location is only truly stable when quality doesn’t decline the moment an individual colleague leaves.
How you'll notice the difference when this is handled properly
For the facility manager or operations manager, this translates primarily into predictability. When a permanent employee goes on leave, there is someone who already knows the location and doesn’t have to re-learn the on-site procedures. Access control operates as employees are accustomed to. Questions from HR or the facilities department are addressed without anyone first having to figure out internally who actually has the necessary knowledge. Audits proceed more smoothly, as answers are widely understood within the team. To be honest, this approach does require more upfront organization from SERIS as a security partner. We make that investment deliberately, because we only accept assignments where we can ensure quality in the long term.
Many organizations only realize how dependent they are when things go wrong. A permanent employee is out on long-term leave or leaves the company, and suddenly it becomes clear just how much was being handled implicitly. That moment can be avoided by treating security continuity as something you plan for before it becomes necessary. Would you like to know how we would set that up for your location? Please contact us, and together we’ll identify where the vulnerabilities lie.
