The DVD – ‘Stop it on the Door’ – outlines basic techniques for entry-level door staff in refusing patrons entry to a venue and in dealing with the potential conflict that can result. A statement said “it also includes some tricks of the trade used by professional door staff around the world”.
Stop it on the Door is the first in a series of ‘Professional Doorman’ DVDs designed and delivered by former doorman Mark Toner. Toner has been involved in the security industry for over 15 years.
During that time he went to college and collected a first class honours degree in education, as well as a Master’s in Training and Development from Bradford University. His Master’s thesis explored the real training needs of door staff in today’s changing work environment.
As much information as possible
Toner is certified to train door staff to the levels required for licensing in England and Ireland.
“Licensing has had many effects, good and bad,” he said. “One of the effects of licensing in both countries has been the retirement of some of the most experienced door staff. They decided they weren’t going to do the job any longer.
“They weren’t going to work if they had to pay tax or attend a training course so you had these guys with 20 or 25 years experience and knowledge on the doors who just left the industry. So we now had a raft of new people moving onto the door having completed the required training and gotten a licence but they were still arriving on the door with no real idea. What I wanted to do was get them as much information as possible, and a DVD seemed the natural way to do that.
Some simple techniques
“[But] in this job, standing on a door, the real training has been and always will be on-the-job training. You work alongside experienced professionals and you watch and learn from them. That type of training will never be replaced.
“We cannot replace on-the-job training but what we can do is give someone, who is considering standing on a door for the first time, an insight into some simple techniques they can use to deal with refusing a group or an angry patron. So when they do stand on the door for the first time, they are perhaps a little better prepared than I was, than we all were, and perhaps prevent them from making some of the same mistakes we made.”
The company is in the process of producing two follow up DVDs.
