A CODE OF CONDUCT AIMED AT RAISING professional standards and guaranteeing a “high level of ethics” in private security firms operating across the European Union (EU) – including the ten new Member States from eastern and southern Europe who’ll join up next May – has been agreed between employer organisations and officials at the European Commission, writes Keith Nuthall.
The agreement has been struck between the Confederation of European Security Services and Uni-Europa, which represents 10,000 security companies and around 600,000 officers/supervisors working within the EU. The Code covers everything from the selection and recruitment of officers through to vocational training and Health and Safety in the workplace.
Importantly, the Code includes a firm commitment on avoiding discrimination in both work practices and relations with clients, the police and competitor security companies. At present, national regulations and practices vary widely between Member States, and are sometimes inadequate and even – on occasion – non-existent. That inevitably means there are huge variations in the quality of service provided, such that the private sector is prevented from taking full advantage of European integration. As a result, national employer and Trade Union organisations must now “promote the Code and its application as widely and fully as possible”.
Looking more closely at the details of the Code of Conduct, it also commits those in the private security industry to following open and ‘transparent’ procedures within their own organisations, a commitment that also extends to any separate agreements struck with either employees or contractors.
In terms of recruitment, the Code states that companies should “take into consideration the moral values of a candidate” and ensure that they have the “minimum standard of ability” that will be necessary for them to assume a professional role in due course.
On salaries, the Code stresses the need for them to be “healthy enough” to guarantee a “high level in quality of service”.
