Security

Master Key Control

To ensure every master key is accounted for at all times and that access to guest rooms is traceable to a named employee.

Scope

Applies to all master, section and floor keys at every property.

Security holds the key register. Department heads authorise issue. Every holder signs personally.

Key register, key safe, key encoder audit report, employee identification.

Issue a key only against the employee identification and a personal signature in the register.
Record the key number, holder name, department, date and time of issue.
Never pass a key to another employee. A key changes hands only through the key safe.
Keep the key attached to the person on a retractable cord, never left on a trolley or a desk.
Return the key to the key safe at the end of every shift and sign it back in.
Security reconciles the register against the physical keys at each shift change.
Report a lost key immediately to Security and the Duty Manager, not at the end of the shift.
On a reported loss, Security deactivates the key in the system before any search begins.
Review the encoder audit report weekly and investigate any access outside an assigned area.
Re-key the affected section when a master key is not recovered within twenty four hours.

A master key is never left unattended for any reason, including a short break. Never label a key with the property name.

Every key accounted for at every shift change. No unexplained gap in the register.

Escalate any unrecovered master key to the General Manager within one hour.

Procedures are issued to a property, acknowledged by the staff it applies to, and re-issued when they change.