The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will, of course, have an impact on security across the whole of the UK.
The Games themselves are being held at locations across Britain and, at the same time, there will be the usual UK Summer events running in parallel, be they festivals like the Notting Hill Carnival, the tennis at Wimbledon, the F1 British Grand Prix or Her Majesty The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.
Those who work in the private security sector need to be mindful of what is happening in their area before and during Games time: will additional security have to be provided? Will the business be affected? Quite simply you need to plan for this now!
Similarly, if you’re a security buyer then you need to be aware that there will be an unprecedented call on private security across the UK this summer. That being the case, you need to make sure that your security provider(s) will be able to supply the cover you’ll need.
Dedicated Olympics pages on the website
The new 2012 Olympics page on the Security Industry Authority’s website contains salient and timely advice for security suppliers, security buyers and front line members of staff alike.
The pages contain a section on the licensing requirements during Games time, a downloadable factsheet entitled ‘Be Aware and Prepare’ and an article by Dave Humphries: ‘Compliance and Enforcement: Olympic Preparation’.
Officials at the Regulator are urging private security companies to:
- agree contracts – plan ahead for the Games period and agree contracts for your company’s provision of security.
- monitor leave and absenteeism – security staff may wish to be involved with the Games as part of the volunteer workforce, or they may have tickets for some of the events. Have you thought about how many of your security operatives will want time off?
- plan for travel disruption – if you operate in an area where events are taking place your security staff may have difficulty in getting around.
- prepare for extra demand – you or other security providers local to you may have to cover additional contracts if companies are sub-contracting on a wide scale to Olympic-related events.
- remember your core business – with all of these additional opportunities you will still have to cover your core business contracts, but you may find yourself short of security staff.
- get your staff licensed early – if you are a security company taking on new staff, get them trained and licensed early. Do not leave it until the last minute to submit SIA licence applications.
The new Olympics section can be found on the Security Industry Authority website