Chris Burton, executive vice president of experiences and design, Sign In Solutions shares six visitor management practices to strengthen compliance culture in pharma.
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When two visiting researchers at a U.S. university laboratory were charged with smuggling biological materials, it wasn’t just a criminal case, it was a telling example of how even a sophisticated facility can be exposed.
From GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) violations to data privacy breaches and geopolitical vulnerabilities, the need to secure physical sites while meeting global compliance mandates has never been more urgent. Incidents like this illustrate the security and compliance risks that pharmaceutical companies and other entities across the life science landscape face. When it comes to protecting people, physical facilities, intellectual property and digital assets, the stakes are high in terms of health, safety, competitive standing, and in some instances, national security.
Not all life science and pharma companies are equipped to manage these risks. Many still depend on siloed, decentralised security and compliance approaches that don’t scale or integrate as a company grows. That creates blind spots, gaps and vulnerabilities, leaving organisations exposed when consistency matters most.
There is a better way. A modern, intelligent approach to visitor management — Visitor Management 2.0 — uses a unified platform to manage how people enter and move through pharmaceutical facilities by combining compliance requirements, risk workflows, and intelligent access controls. In an industry defined by strict regulations such as GMP and GxP, as well as constant oversight from agencies like the EMA (European Medicines Agency), Visitor Management 2.0 centralises policies, applies them consistently across global sites, and tailors access based on each visitor’s profile and intent. Basic systems stop at routine check-ins and transactional verification. Visitor Management 2.0 layers authentication, real-time verification, data insights, and audit-ready record-keeping into a single experience. The result is stronger security and compliance, plus a smoother, more professional experience for employees and visitors alike.
Ultimately, Visitor Management 2.0 helps build a culture of security and compliance across pharma organisations. It does this by reinforcing best practices tailored to the unique requirements of an industry that cannot afford to compromise when it comes to protecting knowledge, facilities, and access. Those best practices include:
1. Centralised standards, customised locally
In highly regulated, intellectual property-intensive industries like pharma, the most glaring security and compliance vulnerabilities usually trace back to two factors: fragmented, siloed, inconsistent policies, processes and protocols across locations, and an over-reliance on security personnel — often third-party contractors — whose training, familiarity with policies, and commitment to enforcement can vary widely.
Visitor Management 2.0 eliminates these inconsistencies by unifying and applying standard visitor policies across all sites through a central management platform, while still allowing local customisation to ensure effective enforcement on the ground. One life sciences company faced the challenge of protecting nearly 1,000 global locations with a security staff of just eight people. By replacing fragmented, non-standard processes with a unified visitor management platform across Tier 1 sites and many Tier 2 sites, the company was able to automate compliance verification, reduce manual errors, and implement real-time monitoring and watchlist screening. Today, its entire security operation is managed through a Global Security Operations Center, strengthening protection even with limited staff.
2. Approvals and escalations are elevated into strategic safeguards
Pharma facilities host a wide range of visitors, from EMA auditors and regulatory inspectors to contract workers and vendors. Because each carries a distinct risk profile, treating each the same leaves organisations exposed. Without the right controls, risk can slip through simply because someone failed to ask the right questions or conduct adequate due diligence.
Visitor Management 2.0 brings structure to this process. Approvals are based on context, using tools like AI-driven automated credential prescreening against industry databases. Escalations turn hidden risks into visible workflows, creating multiple layers of review and intelligent security chains where needed. This transforms approvals and escalations from routine checks into strategic safeguards; critical points of control that reinforce a culture of security and compliance across the organisation.
3. Entry experiences enforce policy without friction
Visitor check-in is where first impressions are formed and where risk can either be reduced or amplified. Security and compliance must always come first. Instead of relying on lengthy, repetitive and off-putting entry processes, however, Visitor Management 2.0 includes an experience-design element that ensures policy enforcement without friction. Touchless mobile check-in, advance ID verification, and streamlined entry tailored to visitor type all help speed access while ensuring only compliant visitors gain entry. For example, if a senior executive from a potential partner registers a visit, the system alerts the right people in advance so the company can arrange a professional welcome. If visitors from a high-risk region are expected, the system alerts personnel in advance so the company can take extra precautions.
4. Curated visitor experiences build trust and reinforce brand
What’s better, a visitor experience that stands out because it inspires a sense of trust, safety and competence in your organisation and brand, or one that stands out because it conjures indifference, frustration or aversion? With Visitor Management 2.0, there’s a golden opportunity to position your brand as security-minded, trustworthy and thoughtful by curating the experiences and interactions visitors have with your company before, during and after their visits.
When sign-in flows are thoughtful, branded, and guided, visitors experience the company’s professionalism before they even arrive. The system prepares for each visitor in advance, enabling personalised touches, such as reserving parking, printing badges ahead of time, or alerting hosts to dietary needs. As a result, visitors feel expected, respected, and welcome. This builds trust in the company, reinforces a progressive brand image and strengthens relationships, business opportunities, and talent attraction, all while deepening a culture of security and compliance.
5. A broader security scope
A true security culture extends beyond employees, to everyone who enters a facility. Expanding identity-aware policies to cover all visitors reduces blind spots and shows clear readiness for audits and regulatory inspections.
6. Closing the loop on non-compliance to strengthen GxP and GMP
Missed sign-ins, expired visitor documentation, and incomplete onboarding may seem harmless, but each creates compliance gaps that increase risk. Part of a strong security culture is making sure noncompliance never goes unnoticed or unaddressed. With the right system, issues are surfaced quickly and the right personnel are alerted to intervene proactively, respectfully and professionally.
A healthy security culture should resonate across the organisation. It shapes who is allowed onsite, how approvals are handled, how third parties are verified, and how policies are enforced day to day. In a sector defined by precision, regulation and trust, how you manage visitors isn’t just a logistical concern, it’s a competitive differentiator. Pharmaceutical organizations that embed modern visitor management practices into their operational DNA gain more than audit readiness, they create safer facilities, build a more resilient culture, and ultimately, position themselves as trusted stewards of science, safety and innovation.