The client

Based in Auckland, Challenger Safes operates across New Zealand, Australia and the Asia–Pacific region. The company supplies a wide range of secure storage options for residential, commercial, corporate and government clients.

The challenge

Challenger Safes was tasked with providing a controlled drug storage solution for New Zealand’s largest public hospital. Moving away from the inefficiency of mechanical keys, the hospital needed the safes to be linked into its access control system so that approved staff could use their existing swipe cards.

The hospital also wanted more flexibility in safe placement, without the need to run cabling to a range of pharmacy locations. To achieve this, Challenger looked to a wireless lock from ASSA ABLOY to pair with their Controlled Drug Safes.

The solution

"We worked with the ASSA ABLOY team to fit the Aperio wireless locking system to the full set of our New Zealand-made Drug Safes," says Challenger Safes Senior Security Consultant Brenda Manion. The reader inside the Aperio lock is compatible with most major access control systems for seamless integration.

The wireless lock suits a range of applications, from drug safes, drawers and cupboards through to general door locks, allowing the hospital to expand its wireless lock solution over time.

In the event of emergency or loss of power to the access control system, there is a mechanical override key associated with a senior level of authority, allowing approved staff to manually open the drug safes.

Some of the safes were hard-wired to the hospital access control system, fixing the safes to their locations. As a wireless system  — with the RFID card reader built into the Aperio lock — the new solution enables the hospital to move safes to new locations.

More control, reduced operating costs

The Aperio system has led to reduced operating costs, detailed user audit trails, and remote access control management for a flexible number of safes/locks. As the drug safes no longer require cabling, they can be easily moved, with additional door locks added to the system when required.