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Illustration by iStock; Security Management

Security Guards: Are They Your Forgotten Risk Mitigator?

Ninety-eight people died in the Champlain Towers condominium collapse in southern Florida on 24 June 2021. During subsequent civil litigation, plaintiffs presented evidence that the security guard on duty at the condominium building was not adequately trained in the use of the facility’s emergency communication systems.

As a direct result of this lack of training, contract security guard company Securitas agreed to pay $517 million to settle claims related to the incident.

But arguably the most interesting component here is not who was at fault—instead, it is how this risk could have been mitigated. When asked about the emergency notification system at Champlain Towers, the guard in question said in an interview with The New York Times, “If I had known about it, I would have pressed it.”

The use of security guards is quite common and is considered a requirement in many places. Guards often blend into the landscape, with an organization’s leadership giving little thought to guards’ performance. As the Champlain Towers incident demonstrates, however, this lack of oversight can have tragic consequences.

In enterprise security risk management (ESRM), security professionals are trained to look for ways to help the asset owner mitigate risks. Often, the assessed owner will request security guards as an overall mitigation strategy. Security guards, along with intrusion detection, video management, and access control systems, are often critical parts of the mitigation plan listed in the risk register. Indeed, security guards, when properly implemented, can provide more flexible and dynamic responses as part of the effort to detect, delay, and respond to physical security threats.

The challenge, as demonstrated in the Champlain Towers incident, is quality control and performance management. Well-designed security guard force operations will provide proper response to any number of safety and security emergencies and reduce the risk of civil litigation.

By taking the time to better understand how we can leverage the strengths of security guards, we can ensure that they are part of the solution instead of the problem. The quality of security guards’ performance can directly impact whether an organization is successful in mitigating civil liabilities.

Security guards can provide various services to an organization, sometimes working in roles that are closer to concierges rather than protectors. However, the primary mission of any security guard force should be to protect—within the limits of its abilities—the people, property, and business operations of the organizations it serves.

To provide effective protection, guards need a clear purpose and direction that will enable them to fulfill their duties. This includes implementing and adhering to policies and procedures, and ensuring that guards are informed about them. This boils down to focusing on the basics: standards, policies, procedures, training, supervision, and documentation. 

Standards, Policies, and Procedures

The security guards, whether proprietary or contracted, must understand the policies and procedures that are central to their core duties.

It is not uncommon for guards to arrive at a site with little or no understanding of what is expected of them or what their duties will be. Often the goal is simply to have someone on site that can meet the requirements of a contract or provide a visual deterrence. This type of guard force implementation is risky since the presence of a security guard that is not properly trained or supervised can lead to a false sense of security, where the expectation exceeds the actual capability of the person on the post.  This brings into play the “Reasonable Person Standard,” often referred to in civil litigation. In this context, assigning a person as a security guard who has not been instructed, trained, or supervised could arguably be seen as failing to meet this standard.

To prevent this type of risk, it is best to start with a recognized standard and insist on disciplined adherence. The ASIS Private Security Officer Selection and Training guideline (ASIS PSO-2019) serves as a good foundation in building a program.

Furthermore, it is important for the organization to have well-written policies and procedures that meet the needs of your organization. Whether you are using contract or proprietary (in-house) security guards, it is important to remember that security guards implement policies; they do not make policies. If guards do not know the policies and procedures, they are left to act in accordance with their individual judgment and experience—which may not be consistent with the needs of your organization.

“Policies tell you what is to be done and why. Procedures tell you how it is to be done,” according to a GSX presenter.

By having well-written policies and procedures, combined with industry best practices and guidelines, you can establish the foundation for a solid guard force operation that can add value to the organization and serve as a risk mitigator.

Training, Supervision, and Documentation

Undoubtedly, this combination of training, supervision, and documentation may be the most overlooked element in security guard force deployment and management.

On average, contracted security guards in the United States will receive approximately 20 hours of training on a post, depending on the level of complexity in the environment. This will be accompanied by a type of mentoring program, where the new guard shadows an active security guard who knows the proverbial ropes. More often than not, there is no testing or verification of a guard’s skills.

The challenge can be the perception of the high cost associated with training. In some cases, the annual turnover rate for security guards can fall around 100 percent, and the near-constant onboarding can pressure security managers to reduce the amount of time spent on training to save on both time and costs. However, this may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. By advocating for a proper training program, you, as the security professional, can demonstrate your effectiveness as a risk mitigator.

Consider implementing a certification program at your sites. This program does not need to be complicated or difficult. A certified guard is simply one who has been trained on the policies and procedures of a site. This certification also indicates that the guard has demonstrated the ability to handle all the elements that are crucial to the safety and security of the people, property, and operations within a facility. The certification program should be based on the needs of the company or organization, tailored to meet the specifics of a site.

Most often, a site or organization’s requirements can be found in the post orders. Well-written post orders reflect the policies and procedures produced by the security professionals responsible for the organization. They can also serve as a basis for the training material and certification program. Some organizations have had a great deal of success from moving training programs into a digital format. By working with your internal training and development team, you can digitally present the policy, procedure, and post-order requirements and record testing results.

The frequency of follow-up training is also crucial. Many tasks performed by security guards are routine, and daily repetition reinforces them. For example, tasks like visitor log-ins and escorts are routine and don’t need much initial training. However, emergency situations occur infrequently and require special attention.

Supervisors can improve training by regularly checking on guards, even at remote sites. They can review specific procedures with each security guard they supervise on a weekly or regular basis, timing on-site check-ins with reviews of emergency response procedures.

For instance, one week could be focused on training for or reviewing fire emergencies, the next on medical emergencies, and so on. This on-the-spot training should be documented in daily activity reports and the supervisor’s shift report. Within six months, supervisors could cover 26 separate emergency procedures, ensuring that guards maintain knowledge and readiness. This approach helps address the perishable nature of emergency response training and improves the response to high-impact events.

This type of training also serves a second, very useful purpose. By requiring the supervisor to conduct regular training and document its completion, the relationship between a security guard and shift supervisor is strengthened. An effective supervisor can be a force multiplier for any guard force operation. To support this effort, the supervisor should be an expert on the policies and procedures—able not only to instruct the guard on what must be done, but also able to answer questions about the requirements. Often, it is the shift supervisor who can identify who is struggling and may require remedial training to get up to standards, effectively adding a level of quality control to the performance of the guard force.

The key to training is documentation. Recording what has been trained and the performance verification results needs to be a regular part of the program. An effective means of doing this is to capture the information digitally, feeding it into a database that records the name of the guard, the subject covered, the name of the instructor, and the results of any performance-based testing.

The training database can serve two significant purposes. First, the data collected can be analyzed to help determine the effectiveness of the training program. If the results of the testing show a specific area where the guards are having challenges or the training has been too infrequent, then adjustments can be made to remedy the situation. Second, this database can be used in support of the guard force company, whether they are proprietary or contract, in the event of a legal challenge. Anyone who has been through civil litigation (i.e., a deposition, trial, etc.) can tell you that having a detailed database can be a real asset to the organization—that information displays the efforts made to maintain guard performance to the best possible standards.

It is possible to create a system where the security guard force can be an effective and reliable component of the risk management program. To achieve this goal, it is incumbent upon you, as the security professional, to invest the time in building a system based on the needs of your organization—a system that focuses on the fundamentals of your business and presents it to the asset owner as a solution to a problem. By doing so, you allow security guards to add value to the organization, enhancing their image and feeling of self-worth. 

 

Ralph “RC” Miles, CPP, is the global director of safety and security for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Miles is a security executive with extensive private sector experience in designing, developing, and implementing comprehensive security, investigations, and intelligence strategies across different business environments and organizational cultures. He has presented or written on various topics such as security management, intelligence, organizational resilience, crisis management, investigation, and extremism. His work has been featured in publications such as Security Journal Americas, Security Management, the International Journal of Emergency Medicine, and BMJ Journals. Before his civilian career, he served in the U.S. Army for nine years and is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in history.

 

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