A well written document about Security in Commercial Buildings

From the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA)

The information included in this document identifies potential indicators of terrorist activity, common
vulnerabilities of commercial facilities, potential protective measures, and useful references.  We encourage you to use the informational guidelines in this document to consider new and improved ways to enhance the security of your building.

Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activity 

Terrorists have a wide variety of weapons and tactics available

to achieve their objectives. Specific threats of most concern to

hotels include: 

• Improvised explosive devices 

• Arson 

• Small arms attack 

• Chemical/biological/radiological agent attack

Terrorist activity indicators are observable anomalies or 

incidents that may precede a terrorist attack. Indicators of an

imminent attack requiring immediate action may include the 

following:  

• Persons in crowded areas (e.g., hotel lobbies, common areas, restaurants) wearing unusually bulky clothing that might conceal suicide explosives 

• Vehicles illegally parked near facility buildings or near places where large numbers of people gather 

• Unattended packages (e.g., backpack, briefcase, box) that might contain explosives 

• Suspicious packages and/or letters received by mail that might contain explosives or chemical/biological/radiological agents 

 Evidence of unauthorized access to HVAC areas of a building, such as indications of unusual substances (e.g., unknown powders, droplets, mists) near air intakes 

Indicators of potential surveillance by terrorists include:   

• Persons using or carrying video/camera/observation

equipment in or near the hotel over an extended period 

• Persons discovered with hotel maps, photos, or diagrams

with critical assets highlighted or notes regarding

infrastructure or listing of personnel 

• Persons questioning hotel employees off-site about

practices pertaining to the hotel and its operations, or an

increase in personal e-mail, telephone, faxes, or postal

mail requesting information about the facility or one of its key assets 

• Hotel employees inquiring about facility operations,

equipment, assets, or security measures about which they

should have no job-related interest 

• Hotel employees noted as willfully associating with suspicious individuals 

Common Vulnerabilities 

The following are key common vulnerabilities of hotels: 

• Unrestricted public access. Openness to the general

public is a feature common to hotels, and it contributes to

the facility’s vulnerability. 

• Unrestricted access to peripheral areas. Hotels can be

vulnerable to attacks outside their buildings. Most have

parking lots and/or parking garages where guests’

vehicles have access with little or no screening. 

• Unrestricted access to areas adjacent to buildings. Most

hotels have guest drop-off and pick-up points that are not

distant enough to mitigate blasts from explosives in vehicles. 

• Limited employee background checks. Many hotels,

especially smaller ones, hire staff with little or no background checks. 

• Limited security force. Many hotels have only a small security force. 

• Unprotected HVAC systems. In some hotels, access to the

HVAC systems are not controlled or monitored. 

• Building designs not security-oriented. Many hotel

buildings are not designed with security considerations.  

• Multiple locations to place explosives or hazardous

agents. A hotel has numerous locations where an

explosives package can be left without being immediately noticed. 

Protective Measures 

Protective measures include equipment, personnel, and

procedures designed to protect a facility against threats and to

mitigate the effects of an attack. Protective measures for hotels include: 

• Planning and Preparedness 

− Designate an employee as a security director to address all security-related activities. 

− Conduct threat analyses, vulnerability assessments,

consequence analyses, risk assessments, and security audits on a regular and continuing basis. Develop a comprehensive security and emergency response plan. 

− Establish liaison and regular communication with local

law enforcement and emergency responders. 

− Conduct regular exercises with hotel employees to test

security and emergency response plans. 

• Personnel 

− Conduct background checks on all employees.  

− Incorporate security awareness and appropriate

response procedures for security situations into employee training programs.  

− Maintain an adequately sized, equipped, and trained security force. 

− Check guest identification upon check-in. Provide

guests with information on how to report suspicious people or activities.

 • Access Control 

− Define the hotel perimeter and areas within the hotel

that require access control for pedestrians and vehicles.  

− Issue photo identification badges to all employees.

Require that badge be displayed. 

− Issue special identification badges to contractors,

cleaning crews, vendors, and temporary employees. 

− Restrict the storage of luggage to locations away from

areas where large numbers of people congregate. 

• Barriers 

− Install appropriate perimeter barriers and gates.

Implement an appropriate level of barrier security. 

− Install building perimeter barriers (e.g., fences,

bollards, decorative flower pots, high curbs, shallow ditches). 

− Install barriers to protect doors and windows from small

arms fire and explosive blast effects (e.g., blast-resistant

and shatter-resistant glass, offset entryways). 

− Install vehicle barriers (e.g., bollards, fencing) to keep

vehicles a safe distance from buildings and areas where

large numbers of people congregate. 

• Communication and Notification 

− Install systems that provide communication with all

people at the hotel, including employees, security forces,

emergency response teams, and guests. 

− Install systems that provide communication channels

with law enforcement and emergency responders. 

• Monitoring, Surveillance, Inspection 

− Install video surveillance equipment (e.g., closed-circuit

television [CCTV], lighting, night-vision equipment).  

− Continuously monitor all people, including guests,

entering and leaving the facility. 

− Consider acquiring luggage-screening equipment for

use during high-threat and/or high-profile events. 

− Implement quality control inspections on food supply to

hotel restaurants and special events.   

• Infrastructure Interdependencies 

− Ensure that the hotel has adequate utility service

capacity to meet normal and emergency needs. 

− Ensure that employees are familiar with how to shut off

utility services (e.g., electricity, natural gas) in

emergency situations. 

• Cyber Security 

− Develop and implement a security plan for computer

and information systems hardware and software. 

− Regularly review the hotel’s Web site to ensure no

sensitive information is provided. 

• Incident Response 

− Ensure that an adequate number of emergency response

personnel are on duty and/or on call at all times.  

− Identify alternate rallying points where employees and

others at the facility can gather for coordinated

evacuation and/or for “head counts” to ensure all have

been evacuated.  

• Report Suspicious Activity 

− If you observe suspicious activity, you should call 911 at once.