How The Security Sector is Protecting its Staff

Due to the on-going pandemic, safety and hygiene measures have been ramped up everywhere. Back in My for example, trains and stations deployed manned security services to manage crowds.

Over the course of the initial lockdown period, Transport for London (TfL) announced that they were aiming to operate 75% of their usual tube services, and their bus services would run at 85%.

TFL deployed more security, which included compliance policing, and on-street security officers  throughout bus stations and the network in order to help supervise social distancing. Of course hundreds of officers from the British Transport Police were also deployed across the transport network too.

Demand for security services has increased

As lockdown measures continue to shift and change, and workplaces welcome back staff members, the demand for and increased security presence has continued to rise. With more security officers being required to help enforce social distancing, which has become an essential part of everyday life.

However, this increased demand for security has placed those working in the sector at more risk. An analysis by the Office for National Statistics revealed that security guards were among the occupations suffering the highest coronavirus death rates, which of course meant the industry needed to take action in order to protect their staff.

Security sector staff safety

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention published guidance on how those working in the security sector should protect themselves, including what to do if close contact occurs during apprehension for example.

However, the SIA (Security Industry Authority), which is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry, maintained that it was the responsibility of the individual employer to meet the correct legal obligations and ensure staff safety.

The CEO address licenced members, and stressed the importance of employer risk assessments and referred to previously published government guidelines:

“The government is clear that the responsibility for undertaking a proper risk assessment, and implementing the necessary measures, rests with the employer. We agree with this approach, because only the employer can understand the specific details on the ground. The Government has published a number of guides for those working in a variety of environments. They can be found here.

“The guidance also refers to PPE (personal protection equipment) requirements. The current advice suggests that the added value from some measures is very limited outside of a clinical/medical setting. The guidance continues to highlight the overwhelming benefits of good hand hygiene, and the limited role of face coverings. We are not in a position to offer anything further to this advice, which is based on the latest available science.”

You can read the full address from the SIA here.

What SGC are doing

Licence-holding security professionals have of course been classed as critical workers by the government. Meaning many manned security guards have been on the front lines throughout this pandemic, and will continue to be. Even when it comes to workers doing their jobs remotely and leaving buildings unoccupied, security officers have been protecting these properties with vacant property security throughout the pandemic, as well as providing support to any skeleton staff remaining.

Here are some examples of the proactive steps SGC have taken during these unprecedented times, to ensure our teams and clients are always protected:

• Due to sporting and spectator events being cancelled through the UK, we’ve maintained a very strong presence within this sector. We retrained our Event Crowd Safety Teams to perform various additional duties within our client portfolios such as administration roles, cleaning, sanitation and facilities management tasks.
• At all of our NHS sites we have implemented extra measures to ensure all of our staff are safe during this time. This includes:
• Liaising with the security officers to ensure that we are aware of any medical conditions that they or any of their close family may have.
• Once armed with this information our HR and operations teams liaised with the officers and trust partners to ensure extra PPE was issued or a change of role was carried out.
• Utilised the trust partner’s testing facility to fast track any officers that have shown symptoms of Covid-19 after they have been working with Covid infected patients. Enabling both peace of mind for the officers and their families, but also allowing them to continue working.
• Changed the shift patterns and working arrangements of another 94 staff members.
• Supplied PPE to sites where required, including masks, gloves, goggles, anti-bac gel and anti-bac wipes for equipment use.
• Carried out COVID-19 site audits for all client sites.

Choose SGC

No matter the size of the organisation, SGC guarantees to fulfil any security requirements you have. Our highly trained and fully SIA licensed security guards always take a proactive and professional approach, and our manned security officers are fully equipped to handle whatever situations the job demands.

To determine the service you require, we can provide you with a FREE comprehensive site

security audit – simply contact us here today.