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Following the 2001 anthrax attacks, mailroom security has been one of the big challenges facing corporate security directors

Since letters containing anthrax spores were sent to several media outlets and the offices of two U.S. senators in 2001, implementing mailroom security procedures and technologies has been one of the biggest challenges for security directors.

Numerous so-called "white powder" scares are reported across the country every week and target a variety of sectors including government offices and corporate facilities. Industry experts say the costs of these scares on the bottom lines of businesses can be staggering, especially if they fail to invest money and resources in securing their mail facilities properly.

"There is an expense (to secure the mailroom), but when you compare that expense against the cost of an evacuation... it is negligible," said Rich Coakley, director of solutions development for Pitney Bowes Management Services, which provides mailroom screening services to large corporate entities in the U.S. and the UK. "

White powder scares resembling anthrax attacks are only the tip of the iceberg, however, when it comes to threats that can be sent via the mail. Potential explosive devices, as well as other chemical and biological agents, such as Ricin, also pose a threat.

Ronald Heil, assistant vice president and senior security consultant for TranSystems, an independent consulting and security systems design firm, said that one of the things his company advises clients to do to help mitigate mail threats, no matter what form they take, is to have their mailroom separated from the rest of the corporate campus. However, if a company has their offices in a high rise complex and the mailroom cannot be separated, Heil says it should be located on a ground floor, preferably on an outside wall.

Securing the heating and air conditioning system of a building must also be a key consideration when creating a mailroom security plan, as chemical and biological agents could quickly spread throughout the workplace if the proper safeguards are not in place.

"It doesn't even have to be a terror attack. It could be your basic shipping and receiving," Heil said. "You occasionally could get deliveries of certain volatiles or combustibles or in a lab environment, you could be getting pathogens of some sort, so you do not want the HVAC system to assist in spreading any of those (agents) throughout your facility."