According to the South African constitution it is the right of every individual to feel safe and secure. That right is not only limitted to the country or the streets; this right is a right that extends also to the work force. It is the right of every employee of any legal and registered institution to feel secured inside and around the areas of the work place.
By accompany investing in effective and upto date security system; they are not doing their employees any favours because that is their right. Making employees feel safe goes a long way and the rewards are so much greater than any UIF force, any medical scheme or any raise that an employee can get.
Depending on the establishment at hand, there are many options when it comes to implementing an effective security system. It could come in the form of burglar alarms, the use of security guards, camera surveillance and CCTV.
Alarms and CCTV systems don’t count of they are not always updated and checked regularly. This is a felony, it is wrong and it gives employees a false sense of security and it may also put your company in a lot of trouble should one of the employees experience an incident within the company which could have been prevented or minimized by the security system.
It’s ironic how we notice the effectiveness of a company security system only when the company experiences a burglary or stolen goods or an employee finds themselves hurt on the company property. Why is it then that the company executives realise that the CCTV monitor is blurry or the camera surveillance lens has been tainted or stained?
Employees have rights and it is upto them to also ask and inquire about matters of safety. You never know if you are parking your car in a company parking lot has only two cameras that are not even facing towards your car. That is clearly a security system that is inadequate and ineffective and that, employees have a right to petition against.
