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Country-wide security
for beverage maker Boissons du Cameroun
G4S is providing a country-wide security solution for Cameroon’s biggest drinks maker, Boissons du Cameroun, across 80 sites in 10 regions.
31 Jul 2024
Boissons du Cameroun is the country’s largest beverage manufacturer, making beer, soft drinks and mineral water with operations right across the country.
G4S has been working with the company for more than a decade and has grown with the company, adding more advanced security services and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the operations, with a focus on technology. The number of sites protected has also increased over that time, from 50 to 80.
“Boissons’ operations span the whole country across all different types of sites and we pride ourselves on our agile, innovative and responsive team,” said Eddy Angotchou, Head of Operations for G4S in Cameroon. “We have an open and trusted relationship with our customer and a joined up focus on improving safety.”
Guard Track
Based in Douala, the country’s biggest city, is Boissons du Cameroun’s head office and second biggest manufacturing facility, where 30 G4S security professionals are stationed.
In October 2023, Boissons acquired Guinness Cameroon with its main brewery site located in Douala. G4S also secured that site and therefore 70 G4S security officers deployed there were incorporated into the existing Boissons contract.
Boissons has offices, manufacturing and distribution facilities in every region, including breweries in Bafoussam in the west, Garoua in the north and Yaoundé, the capital and second biggest city.
G4S provides a range of services at the facilities and 490 security professionals carry out tasks including perimeter security, static guarding and patrol and response. Security officers use a hand-held device called ‘Guard Track’ to perform site patrols and record their movements.
Slightly bigger than a mobile phone, ‘Guard Track’ is used constantly throughout patrols and G4S gathers the data and feedback to measure and improve performance. At strategic locations across each site, a patrolling officer taps small receiver points which map the progress of a patrol.
The entire estate of buildings, with a total of 61 installed alarms, is monitored for service quality at G4S’s monitoring centres in Yaoundé and Douala. Each ‘Guard Track’ device has the ability to raise an emergency alarm if further assistance is required. Similar static alarms are available in the buildings.
Private residences of executives are also secured as part of the contract, with an officer stationed at each home at all times, with alarm monitoring and rapid response provided.
In October 2023, Boissons acquired Guinness Cameroon with its main brewery site located in Douala. G4S also secured that site and therefore 70 G4S security officers deployed there were incorporated into the existing Boissons contract.
Boissons has offices, manufacturing and distribution facilities in every region, including breweries in Bafoussam in the west, Garoua in the north and Yaoundé, the capital and second biggest city.
G4S provides a range of services at the facilities and 490 security professionals carry out tasks including perimeter security, static guarding and patrol and response. Security officers use a hand-held device called ‘Guard Track’ to perform site patrols and record their movements.
Slightly bigger than a mobile phone, ‘Guard Track’ is used constantly throughout patrols and G4S gathers the data and feedback to measure and improve performance. At strategic locations across each site, a patrolling officer taps small receiver points which map the progress of a patrol.
The entire estate of buildings, with a total of 61 installed alarms, is monitored for service quality at G4S’s monitoring centres in Yaoundé and Douala. Each ‘Guard Track’ device has the ability to raise an emergency alarm if further assistance is required. Similar static alarms are available in the buildings.
Private residences of executives are also secured as part of the contract, with an officer stationed at each home at all times, with alarm monitoring and rapid response provided.
Rapid Intervention Unit
If an alarm at a particular site is activated, personnel in the control room will contact the relevant G4S rapid intervention unit to investigate further and, if necessary, alert the customer and the police. The response times average just a matter of minutes, with units present in both Douala and Yaoundé, where Boissons’ main operations are situated.
The company’s biggest location is in Yaoundé, a 2 hectare site - equivalent to the area of two full-sized football pitches - where there are 90 G4S security professionals and two security supervisors on site every day.
The complex has multiple functions, comprising a brewery, a bottling facility and a distribution hub. A range of drinks are produced there including beer, soda, mineral water and soft drinks. Every day more than 1,000 personnel work at the facility.
G4S provides security professionals at three breweries and one soft drink production building on site. To access each area, employees, subcontractors and visitors enter the production line zones through manned turnstiles with biometric access control operated by G4S.
Biometric Access Control
Security officers check the ID and credentials of visitors on foot as well as carrying out bag searches. Vehicles coming on to site are similarly verified by G4S. Those who are permanently stationed at a site either have fingerprint biometric access enabled or access cards are used.
Following an incident, G4S supervisors undertake an in-depth investigation and produce a report for the customer including any suggestions of how to minimise the risk of a similar incident happening in the future.
“The key to the success of this contract is that communication with the customer is constant and clear. We are here to give the best possible service and to keep everyone and the assets of the customer safe,” said Eddy.
For more information about the services G4S provides in Cameroon, visit their website here.
The key to the success of this contract is that communication with the customer is constant and clear.