Protecting Security Personnel in Emergencies

[SecTrainer]

Those who own security companies or manage proprietary security personnel should read this OSHA document regarding the company's obligations regarding the training and equipping of security personnel who may be confronted with emergencies - natural or manmade. The provisions should also be considered in terms of their implications for security contracts.

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/333...-personnel.pdf

[Bill Warnock]

Those who own security companies or manage proprietary security personnel should read this OSHA document regarding the company's obligations regarding the training and equipping of security personnel who may be confronted with emergencies - natural or manmade. The provisions should also be considered in terms of their implications for security contracts.

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/333...-personnel.pdf

SecTrainer, that was a ploy is used effectively before retiring. Subsequently I used it and the word went out from GSA and my consulting days with anyone who had anything to do with the government came to a screeching halt. As you saw, I have the references in my security guide.
I used that reference in a few private surveys, but security companies always seem to slip by. There are just not enough inspectors and a lot of companies would probably hope for just a slap on the wrist.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[N. A. Corbier]

Considering how many clients require the security guard to activate the incident response plan, then issue evacuation orders to the workers, I wonder if they realize that they should be training the night shift guard to Incident Commander level.

I know that one firm I worked for, I should of been trained at a minimum to Technician class, if not Incident Commander. In fact, I should of been trained to Incident Commander because for one release, no one knew what they were doing (including me, we were not trained in HAZMAT at all) past "run to the back gate, unlock it, and then go to the nearest phone and tell everyone to get out over the PA. Then run 1/4 a mile north and call 911. Do not call 911 from the plant."

[SecTrainer]

Security, like any service, is client-driven (whether the client of a contract service, or the executives, employees and visitors of a company that has a proprietary force). Clients should demand that the security force be trained and equipped to handle emergencies and disasters.

We hear a lot since 9/11 about "first responders", and the public thinks "police, fire and EMS" when you say "first responder". The fact is, security forces are often the first responders - and that was true on 9/11, by the way. Many companies in the Twin Towers had proprietary security officers and if not for the actions that many of them initiated, more would have died. The recently-appointed security director of the Twin Towers died trying to save people. It's hard to find much in the way of mention or commemoration of these heroes, though, isn't it?

Private security in all of its various manifestations plays an enormous role in making our way of life possible, both socially and economically. If you were to try to imagine that you woke up one day and suddenly there was no private security, whether "physical" or "human", and that suddenly the only protective instrument in society was the police, you would immediately realize that if such a thing happened the resulting chaos and unchecked criminality, with their associated costs in dollars and human life, would be unthinkable.

...no sensors...
...no alarms...
...no alarm responders...
...no access control systems...
...no CCTV systems...
...no security officers...
...no fraud examiners...
...no background investigators...
...no IT security systems...
...no IT security specialists...

...try to imagine life in that world.

I would like to see this message going out to the public. I would like to see the security industry raising instead of lowering public expectations of what security can bring to their community and to their businesses. If clients understood, and expected, the best that security could give them, the bidding process for contractors would change, as would the budgeting process for proprietary security departments, and there would be minimal interest in "security on the cheap" - which is really "faux security".

IF clients truly, TRULY understood the business and social value of security when it is done right, most would no longer buy or tolerate anything less. What's very sad about this is that you can think of a million interesting, entertaining and informative ways to help the public "connect the dots". This is the Age of Targeted Message Technologies, for crying out loud. Why do you hear messages from the Dairy Council, or the Beef Council, or the ASPCA...or the American Board of Plastic Surgeons...or the Association of Realtors...but none from our industry?

...Got Milk?
...Beef...it's what's for dinner!
...Sponsor an abused animal.
...You need an accredited Realtor to protect your interests.

...Recognize those? There's lots more you can think of, shaping public opinion about products, services and occupations such as teaching, nursing, etc. When did you ever see an ad promoting security as a profession? But you recognize "Be All You Can Be", right?

Let's see now - what organization has the money and other resources needed to educate the public? Who could be blasting public service messages, sponsoring PR events, going on talk shows, posting on blogs, maybe even floating a Superbowl spot...to inform people about the security industry and its role in American life? Who could be raising public consciousness and improving the image of our industry in the public mind?

Whoever it is, we have to list them as "Missing in Action", don't we?

HINT: Think of an organization that never misses an opportunity to host a convention, sell a "special report" or a book, or to create yet another "certification", but can't seem to spot the real need and the real opportunity when it parades around naked 10 feet in front of their eyes? Hmmmm? Who would that be, I wonder?

Doh! "Hello...calling ASIS! Calling ASIS! Please come in, ASIS! I'm sorry, Mission Control...we have lost contact with the ASIS expedition. We are receiving no communication from them."

Okay...so ASIS is a total bust in this critical area. They're apparently not interested. Perhaps now, in the age of Web 2, and even Web 3, we can do some of this ourselves. Do you blog...I mean, on relevant blogs that are read by the general public? It's not hard to find blog posts that talk about security (cameras, guards, etc.) - usually in very uninformed terms - especially after highly-publicized incidents occur. So...are we responding? When someone says "That stupid guard...", are we there to say "Now, wait just a minute...."?? When someone complains about CCTV, is the other side being told? There's a lot of ignorant posting about "armed guards"...are we there to provide better information? If not, shame on us.

I admit that I have to count myself MIA in this area...and I'm going to do something about that. Come on - let's all do something about that. This is no longer the age of Mass Media and Huge Media Budgets. We don't need a New York ad agency and we don't have to wait for ASIS with its deep pockets to awaken. Let's wake up ourselves, and get in the game. Maybe we can shame ASIS into doing something, but even if ASIS remains comatose forever, until it is replaced by something better we can make an impact ourselves. The technology is available...and we have a message that needs to be heard. Let's spend less time talking to one another on this board...and more time talking to the people who need to hear what we have to say. There's certainly value in getting together "in here", but we should be "out there", too. (All I would ask is that when we post to "public" blogs, let's use a spellchecker, please. Impressions DO matter.)

[OpsMan1922]

I would like to see the security industry raising instead of lowering public expectations of what security can bring to their community and to their businesses. If clients understood, and expected, the best that security could give them, the bidding process for contractors would change, as would the budgeting process for proprietary security departments, and there would be minimal interest in "security on the cheap" - which is really "faux security".

Having worked in corporate security for the last 8 years, This is EXACTLY what happens. They want all the training in the world, but want to pay 10,11 bucks an hour to have incident commanders and first responder type personnel. Particularly in the contract industry (which I'm a part of) the clients usually want to keep CUTTING costs, but INCREASE the standard of the officers they have.

Doesn't work that way. Being at a large account, I always remind my client that we've gone from being at the top of the chart pay wise, to being close to the bottom in the area and the type of officer you can attract is tied in to what you are offering. This is magnified when you take into account the high cost of living in the area that my facility is located in.

Back to the subject, my staff are trained to assist in evacuations and in medical emergencies. Haz mat is taken care of by the engineering staff of the facility and we play a minimal role except to control traffic around potentially dangerous areas.

[craig333]

Its not just the clients that are a problem. Security companies like to move guards around, fill in wherever and whenever they can. How are you supposed to know a companies evac plan when you are only posted there a day here and a day there?

I was showing a new guard to the site (my old site I knew intimately) all the stairwells, entrances, exits etc, and by the time I was done (I had an hour an half to train him) he couldn't tell north from south. How is he supposed to help evacuate a building?

[NRM_Oz]

Ops and Craig .......... you blokes summed it up perfectly.

Working as a relief manager I would sometimes fill in 2-6 months from my last visit to a site and if working solo would have to catch on any new procedures or changes to alarms, etc. Sometimes a sub team would be moved and I would be called in to train a replacement team even thought it had been weeks or months since I worked there. I had a dozen sites I worked around plus my own clients and enjoyed the variety but when you have people who work 60 hours a week on a site and struggle to enter a PIN Code to sign in to the PC every shift then you should be concerned.

I recall a new account where I was assigned for 2 weeks to get the team up and running. No1 had bothered to train the security teams in evac and no1 had bother to mention it to the Ops Mgr or any1 in management. So 3 hours into my shift we had alarms going off and it meant an evac. WE directed people to the safest place we spotted the carpark which was not used as another office clown told people to wait in gazebos (as it might rain she said). It could have resulted in major injuries to these people or I could have directed people into a danger zone.

Posting of reminder signages, regular checking and knowledge testing of SOP's is the only way these things are going to be controlled and when you pay someone minimum wage and expect them to be an Incident Commander something is just not right.