ASIS Receives ANSI Approval for Physical Asset Protection Standard
ASIS International (ASIS), an association dedicated to increasing security professionals' productivity, has released its latest ANSI standard, The Security Management Standard: Physical Asset Protection. The standard provides a comprehensive management approach to identify, apply and manage physical security measures in order to safeguard an organization's people, property and information.
The new standard offers a framework for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and improving physical protection systems.
"All organizations face risk," said Allison Wylde, co-chair of the Physical Asset Protection Technical Committee and Course Leader, MSc Project Management, London Business School. "The challenge is to first determine how much risk is acceptable and second how to cost-effectively manage risk to meet strategic and operational objectives. This standard helps practitioners determine the appropriate balance between these competing demands."
ASIS first began working on the standard in 2010.
The standard integrates the organization's security and related functions (risk management, safety, finance, quality assurance, compliance) into a comprehensive, proactive management system.
This management system should:
- Ensure top management leadership and commitment to the physical assets protection policy
- Establish a comprehensive risk-management program that identifies, analyzes and evaluates risks to tangible and intangible assets
- Characterize the assets and design and implement a physical protection system that meets the objectives
- Integrate people, procedures, technologies and equipment to meet the objectives
- Continuously monitor, measure and review the performance of the management system
"The Physical Asset Protection Standard provides direction to security managers," said Bernard D. Greenawalt, CPP, Standards and Guidelines Commission Liaison and Vice President, Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. "Used in conjunction with the ASIS Protection of Assets and the ASIS Facilities Physical Security Measures Guideline, this Standard will help practitioners determine the appropriate level of acceptable risk and the investment required to manage those risks."