UK Hospital Improves Access Control Management With Electronic Locks

Codelocks' electronic locks have been specified by Walker Security Resources to improve access control management at Rochdale Infirmary in Lancashire. he upgrade from mechanical to electronic locks will significantly reduce the time it takes the hospital's estate department to make regular changes to the access codes.

"Access code management can be a real issue for hospital maintenance staff", said Grant Macdonald, MD of Codelocks. "Ideally, hospital access codes should be changed on a regular basis, this will ensure the locks remain effective for restricing access to certain adreas within the site. Typically mechanical locks have to be removed from the door for the code to be changed, which takes about 10 minutes for each lock. This is manageable if there are only a few mechanical locks in the hospital. However, code on electronic locks can be changed while the lock is in situ on the door, which means that it takes only a few seconds to change the code. This makes it much easier to maintain access codes when there are large numbers of locks spread throug

hout the hospital. Rochdale Infirmary's estates department sought the help of an independent security company, Walker Security Resources, when it realized that managing 60 mechanical locks positioned throughout the hospital was taking too much time.

“As well as on-door code change, the estates department needed locks that could also be ‘keyed alike',” explained Peter Walker, sales director at Walker Security Resources. “This feature eliminates the need for maintenance staff to carry around large numbers of keys, as each lock can be accessed by just one key. The Codelocks electronic lock is designed for medium duty applications. It is available with a lever or knob handle, in brass or stainless steel.