The Big Thinker

Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By STEPHANIE SILK

Since 2004, David Kraus has been director of security for IMPAX Laboratories Inc., Hayward, Calif., a multi-site pharmaceutical company with 800 employees to protect. He demonstrated his security acumen for the IMPAX team when he gave the security program and systems a complete upgrade a couple of years ago. “We had security,” Kraus contends, “but I've always believed that managing contractors is as important as what they are there to do, and we weren't a doing good job as a company. So I looked at other options and researched and reviewed.”

Kraus conducted an intensive review of physical security for the property and concluded that it needed a larger contract and a more assertive security program. “We were passive, almost inactive. We were just standing at posts and watching traffic at company gates. We needed to be more proactive, start asking more questions, checking IDs, etc.,” he says.

Kraus did an assessment of IMPAX's sites, consisting of eight buildings spread almost a mile apart. “We had to create a security plan that was unique, because we aren't just a cluster of buildings on the same property,” Kraus says. And after work and research, he led the start of a five-year master plan to improve security, which they are about halfway through today.

Kraus has had experience turning around security at various facilities, including his past work at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Fla., and at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, where he developed a photo ID protocol/procedure. He was also previously manager of corporate security for Quaker Oats Global Security, conference director for Cahners Publications and manager of security for Abbott Labs-Dallas.

But a notable achievement in his past was his position at Kaiser Hospital as security director, where he developed a security risk assessment plan that later became the Kaiser security model for Kaiser Northern California.

Kraus was responsible for four hospitals, and noticed a needed change because of three past robberies at gunpoint. After looking at the hospital's vulnerabilities, which included all the hotspots where money was handled, he estimated that an average of about $50,000 in cash was transferred to and from parts of the facility each day.

“All the money that patients give for checking in and whatnot was put in plastic bag or paper envelope and put in drawer. That was considered our best security,” he says. “We were putting the people that handle that money at risk.”

So Kraus traveled to ISC conferences to research products and to look for a solution. He found an electronic safe system from FireKing, New Albany, Ind., which he installed for Kaiser.

He found his work at hospitals rewarding, and for a particular reason. “The director of security in a hospital is most similar to small town police chief. You are involved in so many activities, so many peoples' lives. That was the place I wanted to be,” he says.

Taking charge in his previous positions helped him create the security program he did at IMPAX. Since their upgrade, they have updated their security system with Software House's C•CURE System and American Dynamics' cameras with DVRs.

“We have had wonderful results. We have requirements in the pharmaceutical environment from the state and federal regulatory agencies. And now that we have more than 100 cameras that are constantly recording with big enough hard drives to hold 30 days of content each, we've exceeded their expectations and requirements. You get what you put into it.”

Kraus also knocked through requirements by reducing the cost of security services by purchasing systems rather than leasing and by upgrading the site CCTV system to meet new regulatory requirements of California.

But he doesn't do it all by himself. In fact, Kraus, who is an IMPAX employee, manages 12 people who work under contract from security officer services company, AlliedBarton. He has dedicated time and expertise to provide and promote development for them through continual training programs. He is also committed to training and education and has sponsored supervisory employees to attend outside training seminars to better equip them for their tasks.

“I've seen security responsibility evolve from guard-like or control-like functions into true business management for budget, capital and program development. There is a lot more direct involvement for long-term planning, and that used to not be the case,” he says.

Kraus knows that people skills are important in the security industry, and he says he has always heightened those skills in every operation he goes into. His teamwork skills prove a lot for him too, which shine through at his work with IMPAX where he teaches, advises and befriends his employees. “These are the people that help me do everything to get my job done,” Kraus says.

To help them out, he continually requests the highest security staff wages available and has given generous monetary spot bonuses to reinforce this philosophy. “They are my friends and my teammates,” he says.

His motivation to improve his employees' work - and security in the process - comes from his idea that the security environment needs to match the technology on the market today.

“Wherever you are, there are some senior executives who ask ‘is the security expense worth the cost?’ You as a manager have to justify that. This will continue to grow and get better. Now, there is a lot more technological diversity as a result of development that has occurred,” he says.

On a standard day, technology comes into use with the various access control systems that he and his employees rely on each day. Proximity readers for high-security storage areas, armored car services for the handling and shipment of narcotics and outside monitoring services cover the range of security that Kraus runs into daily.

Outside of the office, Kraus spends time with his wife, Peggy, and his sons Colin, 22, Jeff, 18 and Matthew, 10. In his spare time, he also serves on the International Association For Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS) committee at his local chapter.

For Kraus, security rests on challenge, outcome and reward, and he looks forward to new leaps and bounds with each commitment. “I've been in security long enough to know you can't rest on laurels. There is a new challenge around every corner.”

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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