“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, c

Whether you have hundreds or thousands of stores – the issue of key control MUST be addressed or it will likely impair the effectiveness of all your other security operations.

Where do you start?

By reading this far you already have started. Now let’s take it to the next level by breaking the problem down into its simplest components.

A good example of a company that does it right is G & S Oil, a retail marketer of Conoco and Texaco petroleum products throughout Colorado. G & S follows each of these four steps in managing key control at its seven service stations and 6 convenience stores.

G & S recognizes that there are four critical pieces you must address when looking at key control.

1. The quantity of existing keys has to be controllable. Management must know the number of keys being used at each location. Five cannot turn into six without your knowledge. It’s that sixth key that was reproduced at the kiosk in the mall, the neighborhood hardware store or even by your own locksmith who forgot to document the event that will cause you problems. You have to have a system with a proven track record of restricted keys – keys that have only one way of being duplicated – with your authority.

According to Jim Larkin, retail sales manager for G & S Oil, each manager at the 13 different locations is responsible for keeping an inventory of keys registered to the stores’ employees. G & S employs between six to 10 workers per location. The number of keys varies between location, from four to six.

If you cannot control the number of authorized keys to that front door, your security program is virtually useless.

2. Policies and procedures to rekey must exist. As a retailer, there will be times when keys are outside of your control – they’ve either been lost or stolen. And, there is the issue of keys are left unaccounted for because of employee turnover. Inevitably, there will be a day that keys to your operation will turn up missing. It’s one thing to have dropped a key over the side of the boat to the bottom of the lake, and something else to suspect it is still in the hands of that very angry ex-employee. What is your store’s policy when employees leave?

At G & S, a store manager doesn’t have to call a locksmith to rekey all the doors every time a key is unaccounted for because it’s been lost or stolen. Instead, G & S outfits its store managers with a master key.

“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, ca

A good example of a company that does it right is G & S Oil, a retail marketer of Conoco and Texaco petroleum products throughout Colorado. G & S follows each of these four steps in managing key control at its seven service stations and 6 convenience stores.

G & S recognizes that there are four critical pieces you must address when looking at key control.

1. The quantity of existing keys has to be controllable. Management must know the number of keys being used at each location. Five cannot turn into six without your knowledge. It’s that sixth key that was reproduced at the kiosk in the mall, the neighborhood hardware store or even by your own locksmith who forgot to document the event that will cause you problems. You have to have a system with a proven track record of restricted keys – keys that have only one way of being duplicated – with your authority.

According to Jim Larkin, retail sales manager for G & S Oil, each manager at the 13 different locations is responsible for keeping an inventory of keys registered to the stores’ employees. G & S employs between six to 10 workers per location. The number of keys varies between location, from four to six.

If you cannot control the number of authorized keys to that front door, your security program is virtually useless.

2. Policies and procedures to rekey must exist. As a retailer, there will be times when keys are outside of your control – they’ve either been lost or stolen. And, there is the issue of keys are left unaccounted for because of employee turnover. Inevitably, there will be a day that keys to your operation will turn up missing. It’s one thing to have dropped a key over the side of the boat to the bottom of the lake, and something else to suspect it is still in the hands of that very angry ex-employee. What is your store’s policy when employees leave?

At G & S, a store manager doesn’t have to call a locksmith to rekey all the doors every time a key is unaccounted for because it’s been lost or stolen. Instead, G & S outfits its store managers with a master key.

“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, c

According to Jim Larkin, retail sales manager for G & S Oil, each manager at the 13 different locations is responsible for keeping an inventory of keys registered to the stores’ employees. G & S employs between six to 10 workers per location. The number of keys varies between location, from four to six.

If you cannot control the number of authorized keys to that front door, your security program is virtually useless.

2. Policies and procedures to rekey must exist. As a retailer, there will be times when keys are outside of your control – they’ve either been lost or stolen. And, there is the issue of keys are left unaccounted for because of employee turnover. Inevitably, there will be a day that keys to your operation will turn up missing. It’s one thing to have dropped a key over the side of the boat to the bottom of the lake, and something else to suspect it is still in the hands of that very angry ex-employee. What is your store’s policy when employees leave?

At G & S, a store manager doesn’t have to call a locksmith to rekey all the doors every time a key is unaccounted for because it’s been lost or stolen. Instead, G & S outfits its store managers with a master key.

“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, c

2. Policies and procedures to rekey must exist. As a retailer, there will be times when keys are outside of your control – they’ve either been lost or stolen. And, there is the issue of keys are left unaccounted for because of employee turnover. Inevitably, there will be a day that keys to your operation will turn up missing. It’s one thing to have dropped a key over the side of the boat to the bottom of the lake, and something else to suspect it is still in the hands of that very angry ex-employee. What is your store’s policy when employees leave?

At G & S, a store manager doesn’t have to call a locksmith to rekey all the doors every time a key is unaccounted for because it’s been lost or stolen. Instead, G & S outfits its store managers with a master key.

“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, c

“With this system, the doors can be rekeyed in a matter of seconds,” said Larkin.

“I have a master key for all locations and don’t have to worry about not having access to a location if a problem arises after normal operating hours.”

A set of policies and procedures should be developed that let your store managers know when the store should be rekeyed. Instructions on rekey procedures should be clearly and concisely documented. Whether you use interchangeable cores, call out the local locksmith, or utilize some of the more technologically advanced “user rekeyable” locks, the fact remains – missing keys are a liability and a risk. A regulated program to rekey doors made vulnerable when a key turns up missing could prove to be a necessity.

3. Records management is a must. What good is going to all that effort and expense to get your system under complete control (knowing all the doors, all the keys, all the keyholders) only to lose that control by not staying on top of it from that point on?

Larkin leaves the records management to the supplier for G & S – Englewood Lock & Key. It monitors all of the G & S locations as well as the number of authorized keys per store. When a location requests replacement keys, Englewood Lock & Key notifies Larkin for approval.

“This system means I don’t worry about tracking the many keys in circulation, and I can focus more on retail sales,” said Larkin.

All it takes is one event (like getting an authorized sixth key to that location) that isn’t recorded that will start the degradation of the system you worked so hard to implement. You might remember next week that there are now six keys, but it is unlikely you’ll remember it next year – and it’s guaranteed your successor won’t either.

In the last few years, significant technological advances have been made in the area of real time records management. Computer technology, coupled with the Internet, has provided capability for record keeping that never before was possible. Whether you have five locations or five thousand locations, computer technology software now makes “real time” control over all doors and keys a reality.

4. Policies, procedures and enforcement are critical to the success of the program. You might have the most sophisticated key control program on the planet (restricted keys, rekeying avenues, real time records) and end up with nothing if your own company does not embrace the need for the very control you sought to provide. Management must understand the need for rules and the enforcement of those rules. Policies should be enacted that cover who is allowed to have keys for your doors and when the store’s doors should be rekeyed. Without these policies in place, you’ll end up exactly where you started – with an uncontrolled liability.

How do you begin to create an integrated program to monitor – in real time – and control key location, key holders and keys?

Step 1 to obtaining control begins with an objective assessment of your security program. Measure the effectiveness of your program by taking the test in the sidebar. Ask yourself if your