Published 4 Sept 2025
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4 min read
What is a Facility Security Assessment Checklist?
A facility security assessment checklist helps a facility security officer (FSO) perform an extensive internal scan of a facility’s current infrastructure, its vulnerabilities, and potential threats. It helps determine the necessary solutions to achieve their desired future state of security through a Facility Security Plan (FSP).
Importance
A facility security assessment checklist provides a structured way to evaluate and strengthen the safety of a facility. What are the other reasons why it is important?
Identifies vulnerabilities – A checklist helps uncover gaps in physical security and operational practices, such as visitor management. This allows organizations to proactively address weaknesses before they become risks.
Ensures compliance – A structured assessment ensures the facility meets requirements and standards set for their industry, which helps reduce the risk of fines, liability, or operational shutdowns.
Protects people and assets – By assessing security controls, organizations can better protect employees, equipment, and intellectual property.
Supports emergency response – The checklist often includes evaluating fire safety routes, alarm systems, and communication protocols. This improves readiness for natural disasters, accidents, or security breaches.
Promotes consistency – Using a standardized checklist ensures that all facilities are assessed with the same criteria, ensuring no critical area is overlooked.
What to Include in a Facility Security Assessment Checklist
Because an FSA requires an extensive review of a facility, a checklist would be a helpful guide to make sure that all details are checked and no major components are missed. In line with this, what key elements should be included in a comprehensive facility security assessment checklist?
Background/details about the facility
Risk assessment methods
Assigned security personnel
Vulnerabilities found
Possible security threats
Response to threats, incidents, and breaches
Threat assessment
Security training
Physical inspections (internal and external)
CCTV Surveillance
Alarm systems
Interviews (manager, employee)
Other notable observations
How to Perform Facility Security Assessments
The evolution of technology comes with the transformation of security threats. Criminals discover new mechanisms to break through the most stringent of security systems. Without physical or facility security assessments, building occupants are exposed to threats that can harm their assets and put them at much higher risk.
To ensure the effectiveness of facility or physical security assessments, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to conduct a facility security assessment using a checklist:
Step 1: Identify current assets and potential risks.
Every facility will have its own infrastructure and vulnerabilities to its security program. A chemical facility possesses its own unique set of threats, as opposed to those of a school building, federal facility, or marine port.
It is important to carefully examine the company’s assets, strengths, and weaknesses in building access control systems, and the consequences of the security risks associated with the facility. This will help inform the FSO to know which threats are high-priority.
Step 2: Interview occupants of the facility.
The foremost objective of facility security assessments is to protect people; property comes next. It is only practicable to consult the inhabitants of the facility to get valuable insights on aspects such as security policies, building access paths, current protocols, and the history of theft incidents. These insights will make it easier for FSOs to devise a security plan that best suits the facility’s occupants.
Step 3: Communicate assessment results to the management.
There should be a medium to directly discuss the security assessment report results with management, as they have the means to allot resources for implementing the FSP. Details that should be included in the report are:
Date of the facility security assessment
Types of tests performed
Summary of security vulnerabilities identified according to priority
Recommendations and specific steps on how to address the security holes
Step 4: Schedule regular facility security assessments.
Performing regular assessments is critical to remaining current with security configurations and systems as technology continually evolves and new threats emerge. Some building administrators find it effective to conduct full facility security assessments annually, while others may prefer twice a year. However, companies can opt to do smaller inspections monthly to prevent potential issues from becoming big security risks.
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