Diverse security assignment in a world of beauty

When you enter P&G Beauty’s main lobby in Stamford, Connecticut, you instantly recognize products that many of us use. This is the global headquarters for P&G’s Global Retail Hair Color Division and the company’s largest manufacturing facility for hair color. More than 200 million boxes and bottles bearing the brand names Natural Instincts, Nice ‘N’ Easy, Pantene, and Clairol Herbal Essences, among others, are shipped from here to beauty salons and retail stores each year.

While many companies keep their corporate offices separate from production, P&G Beauty is housing its manufacturing and warehousing areas in the same building as essential corporate operations such as finance, marketing and human resources departments, and research and development performs tests in a neighboring building.  

Securitas has provided service at the site for seven years, and Bill Andersen, P&G Beauty’s corporate security manager, takes a hands-on approach to overseeing the site’s security, personally selecting each security officer with an eye toward diplomacy and professionalism.

Once an officer is chosen to work at P&G Beauty, he or she tends to remain. In an industry usually marked by high turnover, 65% of the Securitas officers at P&G Beauty have stayed at the site three years or longer. According to Andersen, one of the reasons is the diversity of the assignments. As a result of a rotating schedule, every officer is familiar with every aspect of the site and can respond effectively to any location.

Seventeen Securitas officers protect this multi-faceted site 24/7, clearing hundreds of employee vehicles and carriers’ trucks through a gated front entrance each day, checking identification for 1,300 workers at two visitor/employee entrances, monitoring 42 cameras, and patrolling the site’s almost 1 million square feet of executive and manufacturing space.  The patrols include an outside “vat farm” that holds tens of thousands of gallons of assorted chemicals and liquids and a trailer lot with 20 containers ready for loading.  The goal is to help protect people and assets, including proprietary information, in an environment where people feel safe. 
 
In manufacturing, for example, the officers check for safety compliance, such as proper footwear and eyewear, or safe operation of forklifts on the fast-paced production floor. On night-time patrol in the executive area, officers will check that laptops are locked, proprietary information is put away, and doors are secure. 
 
Everywhere, they help protect workers and the business by checking for leaks.  Since most of the finished products manufactured at P&G Beauty are liquids that are ultimately packaged in bottles, the raw materials are liquid as well, arriving in tanker trucks and stored in vats and drums.  The activity has high importance, since depending on the situation; even a minor leak or a hint of an unusual odor could be a serious situation that might impact employees’ well-being, business operations, and even the environment.
   
“The Securitas officers are my eyes and ears,” says Andersen.  “They help prevent problems by reporting what they see to someone who can analyze the level of risk and correct it before it becomes a major problem.” 

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