Industrial security

ONE DEFINITION of security is the protection of assets - people, property, and/or information and I think it is right that ‘people is listed first. It is something of a cliché, but we can’t repair or replace individuals as easily as we can physical or digital assets.

Roles and responsibilities for security professionals have expanded and evolved over the years and it seems more so recently. The physical protection of a staff member or visitor to your premises is, in most cases, no longer enough to meet the Duty of Care requirements for a responsible organisation. This does not mean that they are not important, just that the security landscape is changing. 

The travel security of executives and co-workers travelling to sometimes hostile environments is an established function within most corporate security teams with many having dedicated travel security professionals. There is also a raft of security technologies available to track, inform and communicate with business travellers.

Likewise, the risks to Lone Workers are well documented and again policies, procedures and technologies have moved on tremendously (the Suzy Lamplugh case was 33 years ago) but they continue to evolve and change. I know the healthcare sector is very concerned about the protection of its personnel. I work closely with NAHS (the National Association for Healthcare Security) and the people their members are charged to protect face a range of difficulties, often from people who are themselves vulnerable. Police and other first responders continue to face abuse and attacks. The report published in July showed that one in five police officers suffers from PTSD as one is assaulted every 20 minutes. 

What has come to the fore relatively recently in that many of the security issues mentioned (and others) have a Mental Health issue. The Institute of Directors have recently published a report “Managing Mental Health in Changing Business Models: Remote Working in SMEs” One of the findings of this report was that “today’s ‘always on’ culture is already having an impact on individuals’ mental health, with numerous studies showing that people find it harder to switch off and are more exposed to the risks of overworking and burning out.”* It goes on to say“some argue that it can be more difficult to notice signs of worsening mental health amongst staff, such as extreme stress, presenteeism or conflict with colleagues, when employees are predominantly working remotely.” While this deals with Remote Working specifically, I do feel that the effects of an ‘always on’ culture are similar to the pressures of someone who is ‘always at risk’ for example Security Officers (there are now 350,000 SIA License Holders holding 400,000 Licences).

This is clearly a welfare issue, is it a Security one? Most of you will have some knowledge of PREVENT, which is one of the four parts of CONTEST the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy. Whilst is primary focus is about safeguarding people, organisations and the wider community from the threat of terrorism, to me it has always seemed to have a role within the wider enterprise security risk management (ESRM) programme. An employee who is under stress from Mental health or personal issues outside of the workplace may react differently in the workplace. These could present themselves in the way they react to colleagues or even the business itself. I am not suggesting that any behavioural changes will be terrorist related but they may be disruptive and cause security issues. I feel that a responsible business needs to have procedures and policies in place to, firstly and most importantly support an individual who may be suffering and secondly to protect the business for any risk that may arise from these changes.

Even in the policing area, things are changing. In his first major interview as since he took the top Counter Terror role, AC Neil Basu has called for criminologists to help tackle terrorism in UK.

The ways to deal with instances as mentioned will, or course, involve line management, HR and perhaps external specialists but I suspect strongly that a key player is always going to be the increasingly multi-skilled and multi-faceted Security Manager. 

Mike Hurst CPP is Vice Chairman of the UK Chapter of ASIS International and a member of its European Advisory Council and Professional Development Council. For more information, visit www.asis.org.uk

*72.4% of Brits falling victim to the ‘always-on’ work culture, CV Library, https://www.cv-library.co.uk/recruitment-insight/brits-falling-victim-always-on-work-culture/