How to Create a Smarter, Safer Workplace

The internet era has brought about immense changes in the way we live and work. People’s homes are getting smarter and more connected. Increasingly, they expect the same from their workplaces. However, implementing the internet of things (IoT) in a professional setting is not as simple as putting a smart speaker on a kitchen counter.

Understanding the implications for productivity, collaboration and workplace safety can help guide your decision making about creating a smarter office. Thinking through smart workplace considerations can also empower you to improve your organization’s adaptability and robustness.

Understanding More Connected Workplaces

At the heart of the IoT is connectivity. Not only do most smart devices rely on network connectivity to operate, but also the spirit of smart workplaces is helping to connect systems in new and productive ways.

For example, smarter workplace security may include better integration between access controls for digital and physical resources. This can simplify security operations while also helping to make accessing resources simpler for team members.

The IoT also helps with organization and productivity. For example, your office could implement a system for scheduling conference rooms, including on-site devices for checking in and out. Similarly, smart printers and other office machinery are increasingly popular.

There are many opportunities to achieve more streamlined and integrated workplaces. By leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and connectivity, we can enhance everything from talent recruitment to data analysis to business operations.

Connectivity is essential to making this all work. However, more connected offices also raise new concerns over workplace safety.

Considering Workplace Safety in the Modern Era

Smart workspaces bring new opportunities for security and employee safety. However, they also raise new challenges. In particular, cybersecurity is one of the most significant concerns for modern businesses. With so many devices connected to business networks, additional vulnerabilities are all but guaranteed.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is considered one of the most significant challenges for the IoT, both in workspaces and in people’s homes. Introducing numerous internet-connected devices onto a network can make maintaining security difficult. These are some of the specific challenges and considerations:

Poor Security Design: Many IoT devices are not created by security experts. This is especially true for productivity and “quality of life” devices. These can create exploitable entry points for hackers. For example, even something as innocuous as an internet-connected thermostat can be a weak point in your cybersecurity. Flaws include default passwords, unencrypted data, unnecessary WAN connections, and exploitable remote access.

IoT-Targeted Malware: Some hackers are creating malware and ransomware targeted at IoT devices. Again, this can have wider-reaching impacts than the device itself. While many organizations carefully protect servers, workstations, and network devices, an internet-connected printer, for example, could be overlooked for malware protection.

Lack of Support: Consistent updates and good support are essential for ensuring continued device security. However, many IoT devices do not receive patching or support. Instead, the longer they are used, the greater their risk to workplace safety becomes.

Of course, this does not mean that good security and smart workplaces cannot coexist. However, it does mean that security professionals need to prioritize.

Physical Safety

While cybersecurity sees mostly added challenges and concerns from smart offices, physical workplace safety is often enhanced by it. Smart devices, AI, and increased connectivity make it easier for security teams to ensure employee safety.

For example, centralized alarm monitoring can empower teams to interpret, monitor, record, and respond to alarms across multiple locations and systems. This can include automated responses to further streamline response times. Not long ago, this would have been unfeasible for most organizations to implement.

Access controls are also a significant improvement for workplace safety. Formerly, card readers and electronic locks needed to be hardwired, often limiting their effective scope. Each physical location required one or more systems for access control. Now, smarter versions of these systems can not only be integrated across multiple locations, but they can also be integrated with digital resource permissions.

AI-based video monitoring can help security teams to identify and respond to possible threats caught on camera. Historically, the amount of video captured by cameras frequently made them reactive at best and useless at worst. Today, smarter systems allow computers to do more of the work, letting teams respond in real-time.

Of course, like any other system, physical security devices have the potential to also be vulnerabilities. Networked access controls can mean that entry points need to be secured against digital attacks where they formerly only needed to be protected from physical tampering, for example.

Ensuring Employee Safety When Working From Home

Over the years, professionals have more actively sought opportunities to work from home. This trend has greatly accelerated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many teams to adopt remote work. Fortunately, many smart office tools have helped to make working from home simpler. However, they have also raised new safety and security concerns.

Educate About Home Networks: Perhaps the single most significant threat is that employees are working on their own network, sometimes with their own computers. Educating them about basic security needs is very helpful. This should include both cybersecurity and physical safety considerations. For example, teaching how to create good passwords and encrypt hard drives can mitigate the issue of a device being lost.

Use a VPN: Many organizations are already applying virtual private networks (VPNs) to help them connect remotely. Finding a good quality tool that encrypts data and provides advanced security features is an excellent way to enhance work-from-home security.

Provide Devices: Whenever possible, provide laptops and other devices for team members to use. Having greater control over group policy on business-owned devices is essential for good remote-work security.

Keep Updating: Require team members to update their devices regularly. In some cases, this can be set as a requirement on organization-owned devices. Updates help keep resources better protected.

Implementing Remote Alarm Monitoring in Your Workplace Safety Plans

Creating smarter workplaces can help to make people more productive, collaborative, and flexible. However, workplace safety plans need to be updated to consider the opportunities and challenges of the IoT. With tools like remote alarm monitoring from Security Information Systems, Inc., your organization can harness the power of connectivity. Schedule a free demo to learn more.