Things to consider when buying a safe:

All safes provide some level of protection from flames as they provide a physical barrier between your valuables and the fire.  It is important to think about the level of heat that your valuables can withstand; electronically data in particular is usually stored on media that will perish quickly if subjected to elevated temperatures, and the data will be lost.  No safe can withstand very high temperatures indefinitely, so the amount of time the safe need to resist a fire is also important.  Factors such as how far you are from a fire station and whether you have monitored fire alarms and sprinkler systems will influence the amount of time you require your safe to repel the fire.  Ask your specialist about fire, temperature, hours and furnace ratings.

In most scenarios, what you’re storing can be insured and replaced, and the recommended insurable value is a key determining factor in your purchasing decision.  Of course, items of sentimental value, research or intellectual property can be irreplaceable, so the needs are based more on absolute protection rather than insurability.

Your safe is the last line of defence when securing your valuables, and additional measures to protect the environment will both improve the overall level of security as well as improve your insurability (and premiums!)  Whether the safe will be in a secured room, behind a locked and alarmed door, monitored by closed circuit cameras, bolted to the floor (and the floor type), adjacent to an external wall or on a site with security staff all having a bearing.

How often does the safe need to be accessed, and by whom – where are these people located?  Do you need an audit trail of who access the safe and when?  How easily does the safe need to be opened – and how quickly?  Are time delays required?  Should the lock disable entry for a time period after several incorrect attempts to open it or would this impact on normal operation?  If the safe won’t open, what will the impact be?  Who would you be able to turn to for assistance and what would the impact be on your business?  In technical terms, what is the ‘maximum tolerable outage’?

What physical environment will the safe be in?  Will it be subjected to high temperatures, high humidity, potentially exposed to corrosive chemicals or gases, near sources of grit or other foreign material?  All these things can affect the operation of both the safe and the locking mechanisms, and can impact on selecting the right safe and what ongoing maintenance will be required.  Talk to your specialist about your individual situation?