FOCUS MANNED SECURITY
FMJ reports on how the manned security sector has evolved to meet the
challenges of the past year and how the sector is planning for the future
36 MAY 2021
Over the past year security guards
have played key roles at a range of
critical settings; including working at
testing centres and the NHS Nightingale
Hospitals, helping secure essential
food deliveries from warehouses and
managing queues and customers at
supermarkets. As the British Security
Industry Association (BSIA) confirms they
have also been involved in safeguarding
the homeless in new sheltered
accommodation, physical security at
factories and premises and protecting
industrial estates from illegal fly-tipping
during lockdown.
Describing the main challenges for
security operations during the past year,
Tim Isaac, Security Director at 14forty says
the security teams met the challenges
a„ ecting many of their client organisations,
including social distancing restrictions
and a drastic increase in the number of
buildings le‰ empty and more vulnerable to
security threats.
“The unpredictable nature of COVID
requires planning, planning and more
planning,” he says. “We carried out table
top exercises to plan for hypothetical
scenarios and always made sure there was
a plan B in place – o‰ en even a plan C. In
some cases, we were able to provide sta„
with COVID tests, which greatly improved
e„ iciency. We also found support through
collaboration and partnerships within the
wider security industry.
“We also used our resources to support
the NHS and COVID-19 test centres. For
us, dealing with this surge in demand
and balancing that with reduced levels
of sta„ due to shielding or self-isolation
periods was the most di„ icult obstacle
to overcome. The safety of our sta„ and
clients is naturally a top priority for us
and we were able to rise to the challenge
of ensuring a COVID-secure working
environment for all.”
According to Jonathan Moore, Director
of Operations at Bidvest Noonan, which
acquired UK support services firm Axis
Group in late 2020, security professionals
are o‰ en the first person you meet when
visiting a client’s site and under normal
conditions, engage with large numbers
of people every day. Equipping security
people to deal with the extraordinary
circumstances caused by COVID was
therefore particularly important, he
explains: “Since the onset of the pandemic,
we worked hard to ensure our people
received the information, training, PPE
and sanitisers they needed to stay safe and
protect others. We put new procedures in
place to minimise interpersonal contact
and reduce the potential for infection.
We enhanced our training in areas such
as managing the movement of people,
responding to potential cases, infection
control and new customer service and
guidance procedures.”
John Fitzpatrick London Operations
Director, Axis Security Services adds: “We
were determined to provide our people
with the information they needed to cope
and to identify signs of distress in others.
For these reasons and many more, we
established a well-resourced pandemic
safety communications team. The team
issued communications frequently and in
real-time as needed, using multiple media
formats such as guidance booklets, toolbox
talks, emails and videos.”
To help meet some of the challenges
wrought by the pandemic, the team at
CHANGING OF THE GUARDS