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Shane Hall, formerly of SafeSite Facilities, pictured, has seen the lengths people will go to enter an empty site or building. Of a number of threats, a tide of urban explorers, who post videos on TikTok and YouTube of themselves in vacant, derelict or disused locations, is posing a new challenge to site security companies. While key safes cannot stop this leisure trend, referred to as ‘urbex’, Shane believes key safes can be part of the solution by making unlawful entry to an empty site more difficult.
“Urban explorers are very curious people who want to explore an empty site, building or land and, more often than not, film it for social media,” he said. “But the impact of urban explorers is obviously something that needs to be stopped. A solid, police preferred key safe – rather than a flimsy key box – is an integral element of a site’s security arrangement because it can tick off three of the four Ds – deterrent, delay and deny.
“Not all products can achieve this level of defence against urban explorers and other unauthorised intruders because not all of them have been stringently tested or endorsed by third parties. Considering how expensive some empty properties are, and the cost to maintain them, the key safes used to keep them secure should be independently attack tested and certified.
“Too many key boxes out there are easy to get into and penetrate. There should be a drive for better industry standards. Property owners want confidence that, if you’re going to hang the key to a front door right outside the property, it’s going to be secure; otherwise what’s the point? They need confidence that a site is protected.”
Shane recommends mechanical key safes, rather than electrical solutions, because of the added reliability. “The Managing Director at SafeSite Facilities told me mechanical is the only way to go and I am very much in agreement. They’re so much more reliable and not at the mercy of a faltering battery or dodgy internet connection.
“At SafeSite Facilities, I found a stand-out key safe that we could hire and sell to property owners around the country,” he said.
“As a result, we saw fewer emails about keys, creating less headaches, less email traffic and fewer panicked phone calls about contractors accessing sites.”
The key safe in question is the ark Tamo, designed and sold by Worcester-based The Key Safe Company. The ark Tamo has been certified by Secured By Design, a UK police security scheme to endorse products. The ark Tamo was the world’s first mechanical key safe to achieve the LPS1175 Issue 8 A10 security rating from Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB), meaning it can resist forced entry for at least ten minutes, specifically against opportunist attacks using small hand tools.
Shane said: “We wanted a robust, mechanical key safe that would look like a deterrent and would act like a deterrent. A product that provided maximum security storage of keys at the point of need, enabling easy access for the owner and other authorised users, and disabling access for unwanted intruders.
“The ark Tamo does just that and is incredibly popular with operatives who find installing it really easy. They can see it’s a really good product. It’s the standout and has the attack testing and Secured By Design endorsement to back it up.”
SafeSite Facilities uses the ark Tamo on empty commercial and residential properties around the country on behalf of property managers, local councils, social housing, owners of pub properties, and private landlords.
“I know SafeSite Facilities has had zero issues with it,” Shane added, “and a large number of very happy and reassured customers.”
Visit www.keysafe.co.uk.
