Employee ID badges: security in the workplace

If you were to ask 100 office workers if they had to carry employee ID badges, probably 85+ would say yes. Many employers have been concerned about office security for decades, and in recent years that concern has skyrocketed. Company ID badges are a handy way to keep track of the staff, and to tell who belongs and who doesn't. In our post-industrial age, when information has become a more important commodity than ever, smart businesses need a way to identify their employees easily and limit who can come in and out of the office.

Smile for the security birdie

Photo ID badges with the employee's name and basic information are the most common type that office staff have to carry around, but some badges are strictly security oriented: they lack photos, but you can't get through the door without them. Most badges are made of plastic, photo'd or photoless, and making them and their accessories has become big business for a number of companies. Generally, they supply the blank badge cards and the Human Resources people use software transfer the necessary digital photo. It's so easy these days that you usually get your new badge right away, without a wait, and replacing badges is a snap.

Information, please

Increasingly, businesses have used modern information technology to put all kinds of data on a magnetic strip on the back of staff badges. Employee number, division, length of service; you can put a decent amount of data on that strip, or at least key it to open a computer file containing the data. It may seem a trifle Big Brother-ish for some, but as they say: better safe than sorry.