Quick-service restaurants are a popular choice for many diners across the country. You can get in, eat your meal, and hit the road. However, customer safety in these popular yet often chaotic environments is critical. Implementing security measures to keep staff and customers safe is vital to not only keep the doors open but to make sure your diners have a sense of well-being and can visit your establishment without looking over their shoulder. Here are three steps you can take as a QSR owner to make sure your security is up to par so everyone inside your establishment remains safe.

Use technology

Technology plays a significant role in enhancing the security of quick service restaurants. Surveillance cameras and enhanced high volume lighting are essential parts of a comprehensive security system. Install adequate high-volume lighting outside of all entrances, inside and outside, of your restaurant. This bright lighting helps deter criminals from wanting to break into your establishment. It increases the visibility so the people who may want to enter your restaurant unwanted will stay away in fear of being caught.

Surveillance cameras are another key component to restaurant security. Modern security cameras are much more powerful than those even from five years ago. New camera systems provide better quality video to capture faces and details police need if someone breaks into your restaurant.

Jason Fischbeck of Automated Environments in Phoenix says restaurant managers and owners need to strategically place their security cameras around their facility. “Security cameras not only need to focus on the front and back entrances,” he said. “You need to have cameras around the entire restaurant because you never know where theft might take place. Cash registers, dining spaces, parking lots, and the backrooms where any important documents may be stored. Theft doesn’t always come from the outside.”

Installing cameras in the right locations, making them visibly known, will help detract potential thieves and help reduce the likelihood of any criminal activities at your restaurant.

Consider on-site physical security

Outside of technology you may want to consider hiring physical personnel to secure your location. Security guards, provide a physical presence that can deter potential criminal activity around your establishment. Just having physical security is shown to deter criminal activity and helps provide a sense of security for your staff and customers.

Professional security guards are trained in how to deal with rowdy customers by using de-escalation techniques and are also versed in ways to help in emergency situations. Physical security guards can help monitor entrances, exits, look for suspicious behavior and walk the premises of your restaurant to make sure all are safe getting to their cars after a great meal. In the event of a situation that requires intervention security guards are a great source of information for law enforcement as they are taught to remember the details when dangerous situations take place such as shirt color, height, weight of a person, the direction they ran off and so on.

Bill Herzog, CEO of LionHeart Security Services in Tempe, Arizona, says that when it comes to restaurants who need security the guards are their first line of defense and safety. “Security guards aren’t only there to take ID’s and check for underage kids,” he said. “Professional security guards are there to help identify issues before they start and calm situations before they get out of hand. If someone has had a few too many drinks and is causing a ruckus the guard is there to help move them along to a safe area back with their friends or even remove them from the premises if necessary. Having a person as a security element, at the door, or just walking around, is always looking out for the patrons and keeping everyone’s safety in mind.”

Physical security guards, especially those with reputable companies, work together with law enforcement to help as needed so everyone in the establishment and outside remain safe.

Use communication devices

Having adequate communication in a restaurant is key to running any reputable establishment. Two-way radio systems are proven to be the best way to do this. These devices allow front of house and back of house to communicate immediately to one another in any situation. That situation may be the lady at table 12 has a gluten allergy or the man at table 30 is getting hostile. Communication is what runs a restaurant.

Equipping staff with two-way radio devices ensures everyone in the establishment is aware of potential problems and any security of safety issues. Stew McClintic, Co-Owner of HQ98.com says that two radio systems in restaurants are crucial when it comes to communication between restaurant management and employees. “The last thing you want is something to happen in one part of the restaurant and the other half doesn’t know,” he said.” Let’s say a fire breaks out in the kitchen. You want immediate communication to the front of the house to evacuate the guests and the staff before it gets out of hand to keep everyone safe. Two-way radio communication provides that instant contact needed to provide information to everyone who needs it.”

When it comes to safety in restaurants during emergencies, communication is key. Having that instant connection from back of house to front of house provides valuable minutes and sometimes seconds to get everyone to safety during an emergency. Always consider keeping your staff connected via communication systems to ensure everyone inside your doors are always safe from potential dangers you may not have ever thought would happen.

Making sure your customers are safe when they enter your restaurant is a must for all restaurant owners from Michelin star establishments down to the roadside diner. Using a variety of techniques like cameras, lighting, physical personnel and communication devices only enhances your security at the restaurant. Utilizing these tools helps keep the restaurant a safe and secure space for all who enter and helps deter future issues when it comes to crime or any other dangerous situations ensuring all who enter your doors feel safe when sitting down for a meal.

Bill Herzog is the CEO of LionHeart Security Services, a Tempe, Arizona-based provider of security solutions for commercial and residential properties. Herzog has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and the commercial security industry.

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