The GMB union has launched a campaign to demand better protection for front-line security personnel, complemented by a new website on which victims of attacks at work can log details of the incidents.
According to the GMB, more than 1550 individuals working for just 35 companies out of the more than 660 security solutions providers registered with the Security Industry Authority’s (SIA) Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) have sustained injuries during violent attacks while on duty in the past two years.
In response, the union has set up the website – www.GMB-Security.org.uk – and launched the SafeGuard campaign, which is calling for security-industry employers, clients, the sector’s major trade associations, and politicians to commit to implementing the demands of the SafeGuard charter.
These include joint working to reduce attacks across the industry, provision of adequate support and counselling for those physically injured and/or traumatised, and development of robust training in conflict management.
Speaking at the launch of the charter, the Home Office minister responsible for policing and crime reduction, Alan Campbell, said: “There has never been a better time for a campaign like SafeGuard to start. It’s absolutely right. We urgently need to better protect our security officers, and at the same time do more for the families of those personnel seriously injured when on duty and forced into a sometimes lengthy and difficult recuperation period.”
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: “The job of the security officer demands respect. These people are not something on the bottom of someone’s shoe. The industry and its stakeholders must realise there’s a huge problem here, and that security contracts have to be effectively resourced. Lone workers, for example, must have security regimes in place that will genuinely protect them should something happen.”
To read a full report of the launch and find out more about the campaign, visit our sister website www.info4security.com
