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ASIAL in the news
IN THE NEWS
FEATURED OUTLETS
ASIAL has featured in a range of media outlets over recent months, including the ABC’s 7.30 Report, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, SBS, Brisbane Times, The Australian, Gov Tech Review and Electrical Comms Data. The combined potential reach of these articles was approximately almost 2.2 million. ASIAL has also contributed articles to Govlink, The Bursar Magazine, Facilities Perspective Magazine, Security Expo and Child Care Australia - Guide for Early Childhood Learning & Care.
COMBINED POTENTIAL REACH OF ARTICLES
2.3M
THE ASSOCIATION’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS CONTINUE TO GROW
11,476
LINKEDIN FOLLOWERS
802
TWITTER FOLLOWERS
2,826
FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS
THE ASIAL WEBSITE ATTRACTS BETWEEN:
7,000-9,000
users per month
8,500-11,000
sessions per month
25,000 – 34,000
page views per month
NEW INNOVATIONS IN HEALTHCARE SECURITY TO REDUCE WORKPLACE AGGRESSION
By Ross Judd, Security Services Manager, St Vincent’s Hospital
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Across many industries, workplace or occupational violence (OV) exposure for client-facing staff is being identified as increasingly harmful. It potentially may cause both physical and psychological impacts, resulting in significant economic and social costs to individual workers, their family, the organisation where they work and the wider community. Staff may be exposed to work related violence from a range of sources.
As with all identifiable risks, it must be managed. For example, the National Retailers Association cite a recent survey of their members indicting, “78% of retailers believe that abuse towards workers is increasing.”
Safework Australia define occupational violence as, “any incident in which someone is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.”
LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL RISKS
Employers bear legal responsibility under various State Occupational Health and Safety and anti-discrimination legislation to minimize foreseeable risks within the workplace. They are generally obliged to provide a safe workplace, inclusive of a broader duty of care for employee health and wellbeing while staff are at work.
Workplace violence incidents that are not managed effectively are likely to incur direct and indirect costs including: f recruitment and training costs whenever high turnover occurs f salary costs when employees are absent from work f
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downtime for supervisors and managers in addressing underperformance and absenteeism, cost of lost time for supervisor reduction in staff and customer satisfaction impacting on morale, productivity and attendance.
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HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE AGGRESSION
It is well understood that Healthcare facilities can be violent places. In 2013, United States healthcare reported 80% of all serious injuries towards health care workers occurred through an interaction with a patient.
NSW healthcare staff typically grossly under report aggression and violence in the workplace. In 2018, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reported only 521 incidents of violence across the health system. Our own security incident reporting surpassed that number for the violence incidents responded to by the security team during the same year.
Hospitals are places of healing and caring for unwell members of the community and this is a source of conflict for many staff. Jacqui Pich, Nursing Lecturer UTS identified the conflict many Healthcare facilities face in balancing the environment and needs of staff, patients and visitors, “If we have a lot of high-security presence in hospitals, then we’re creating almost a prisonlike environment rather than a healing and a caring environment.” “We have to be careful to manage that.” A skilled security workforce, combined with effective electronic security infrastructure needs to understand and meet fundamental operational imperatives within the values of the organisation they service.
ST VINCENT’S – DEVELOPING A SAFE AND SECURE ENVIRONMENT FOR PATIENTS, STAFF AND VISITORS
A number of key personnel contributed in various workshops to develop strategies to improve the work listed below: 1. Develop a unified and integrated approach to incident management (which builds on training already delivered). ‘Everyone plays a part in our response’ 2. Build brand reputation on the ability to provide a safe and secure environment for all who use its facilities in the hospital and community environments. 3. Forge productive partnerships across the range of ‘services.’ Critical to managing organisational duty of care and facilitating entrepreneurial approach to security and public safety challenges. 4. Concentrate on ‘duty of care’ to provide effective security and public safety responses.
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Audit ‘the state of preparedness’ for all services that respond to incidents of a nonclinical nature – health check operational plans and arrangements. Develop a full program of exercises, testing incident command as well as operational response: Testing the organisational state of readiness.
If we have a lot of highsecurity presence in hospitals, then we’re creating almost a prison-like environment rather than a healing and a caring environment. We have to be careful to manage that.
Jacqui Pich, Nursing Lecturer UTS
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Hospital design incorporates safety and security principles including open areas and public facing environments. Consider existing staff capabilities to ensure both the consistent spread of expertise and experience in managing and responding to security and public safety issues. Further develop the Incident Response Clinical / Security model across the network; review of position descriptions and resourcing and training.
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Ensure key operational staff receive specialised training focused on de-escalation and managing incidents from both scene management and command and control perspective.
Consider leaders having access to specialist training / coaching and advice to prepare for strategic level risk management and serious incidents.
Electronic dashboard identifies and reports incidents, assaults and events (from a safety and security perspective) that are visible to the Executive. In adopting these strategies, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney now utilise a holistic approach to managing aggression and violence. There is now an increased security awareness culture, supported by a responsive Clinical / Security team that develop individualised patient management plans to better address potential triggers and issues of aggression for each patient.
Each strategy is inextricably linked and is constantly reviewed and modified. Many key staff are involved and are integral to the success of the approach. By working collaboratively, we have improved outcomes that are positive for our patients and improved safety for our staff. Our approach has included improvement in security understanding in the following areas:
SECURITY STAFF
The role of the security officer in a Healthcare setting is specialised and differs to most other security functions. Skills, knowledge and experience learned by each security officer is important within the context of the collaborative Clinical Security hybrid model. The security team have developed and evolved their own practices to better undertake their role within the Hospital multidisciplinary team.
RISK ASSESSMENT
Proactively assessing and mitigating risks – seeking support wherever necessary and encouraging ALL staff to incorporate dynamic risk assessments into their practice.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Comprehensive multidisciplinary training and education. This contributes toward improved understanding and respect for each team member and is inclusive of violence prevention management and team restraint training. Personal safety; risk assessment; situational awareness; understanding patient behaviours with compassion and understanding are the primary training drivers for the team.
REPORTING AND INFORMATION SHARING
Understanding the problem and providing a responsive solution, learning from the experience and communicating to others. Improved analysis of information management system data and sharing the information with key managers. Electronic security infrastructure and the built environment supports staff safety. Adopting emerging technology to support real-time risk assessment.
LEGISLATION, POLICY & PROCEDURE
Working with relevant bodies to ensure that all relevant legislation, policies and procedures are fit for purpose and operationally support staff.
CLINICAL MANAGEMENT
Understanding the clinical drivers of acute behavioural disturbance. Ensuring work practices do not increase the risk of violence and aggression. Including the Security responders in decision making around high-risk patient management.
CLINICAL STAFF
Ensuring mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities and the importance of building trust and collaborative relationships across the organisation. The approach has been adopted from the Anderson report, “The existence of a sound and proven “team” approach will almost certainly contribute to the way in which volatile situations can be
TRAINING
effectively handled in a less volatile manner” (pg 8).
Conclusion
The Clinical Security incident response model continues to develop strategies and systems, incorporate risk profiling and communication; upskill security staff to use available clinical tools to identify potential violence as a means of timely intervention.
This new approach specifically includes the implementation of processes to integrate security in the care of patients. The concept of finding a way to empathise with the person is fundamental in all attempts to deal with the patient in a caring manner regardless of the circumstance.
While we have made positive gains in reducing both the severity and frequency of violence related incidents, we acknowledge there are still many improvements we are yet to develop.
About the Author: Ross Judd
Ross Judd brings a unique breadth and depth of experience in mission-critical security to his role as Head of Security for one of Australia’s largest and most prestigious hospitals. A 15-year veteran of NSW Police, Rod began as a general duties officer in Sydney’s Inner city, before performing senior roles in Crime, Intelligence and Command. He was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Bravery, as well as the NSW Police Valour Medal ‘for outstanding bravery’. He was in charge of Security, Risk and Investigations for Australia’s largest armoured car security company, Brambles, before being appointed as Head of Security for St. Vincent’s Hospital, located at inner-city Darlinghurst in Sydney in 2002. Since that time, Ross has transformed security operating procedures, systems and protocols at St. Vincent’s to profoundly improve security and mitigate risk –a project which included improvements in the management number of ‘Code Black’ (potential violent offender) incidents. Ross sits on numerous advisory & oversight bodies relating to Security and Risk Management issues within the health and general security sectors.
An ASIAL initiative, the Australian Security Industry Awards for Excellence, now in their 25th year will be held in conjunction with the Outstanding Security Performance Awards and the Australian Security Medals Awards. Winners will be announced in Sydney on the 22nd October 2020.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES – PETER BERNER
f f f f
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f Gender Diversity Indigenous Employment Individual Achievement – Technical Security Integrated Security Solution
Under $100,000
Over $100,000 Electronic Security Installation –Under $100,000 –Over $100,000 Product of the Year
Alarm
Access Control
CCTV Camera
CCTV IP System/ Solution
Physical Security (i.e. bollard, gate, barrier, lock) Security Equipment Manufacturer/ Distributor New category
2020 OUTSTANDING SECURITY PERFORMANCE AWARDS
f f f f f f f f Outstanding In-house Security Manager/ Director Outstanding Contract Security Manager/ Director Outstanding Security Team Outstanding Guarding Company Outstanding Security Consultant Outstanding Security Training Initiative Outstanding Partnership Outstanding Female Security Professional
AUSTRALIAN SECURITY MEDALS FOUNDATION f f f
Australian Security Medal of Valour
Australian Security Medal
Save a Life – St John Ambulance Award
2020 AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INDUSTRY AWARDS JUDGES
JOHN ADAMS Editor, Security Electronics and Networks JOHN CURTIS Director of IPP Consulting RACHELL DELUCA Security Consultant, Aurecon
ASIAL.COM.AU/SECURITYAWARDS2020
DAMIAN McMEEKIN Senior Int. Risk & Issues Management Executive CRAIG MILLAR Group Protective Security at IAG MICHAEL WALKER Senior Manager, Security Services, Facilities Management, RBA
#SECURITYAWARDS
WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
AUSTRALIA’S SECURITY COMMUNITY MEETING PLACE.
For over three decades the Security Exhibition & Conference has been the most established and respected trade event for the industry in Australia. In these unprecedented times, the Security Exhibition & Conference will no longer take place on 22-24 July 2020. The cancellation is unfortunately unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean we’re not continuing to bring the industry together.
AN INDUSTRY HUB
More than just an exhibition, Security produces a host of year-round communications through digital channels - bringing together the full spectrum of manufacturers, distributors, security professionals and end users who look to Security for connections, networking and updates.
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Contact the team If you have initiatives, insights, products or industry support you would like to share, get in touch with the team:
Soren Norgaard Product Manager +61 2 9275 9234 snorgaard@divcom.net.au Leanne Dawson Client Manager 03 9261 4560 ldawson@divcom.net.au 20,000+ STRONG ONLINE COMMUNITY
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KEEP IN TOUCH:
Lead Industry Partner
Acknowledging the many security professionals performing an essential frontline role during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Across the country, thousands of security companies and security officers have performed an essential role in helping to keep things going. ASIAL would like to acknowledge the commitment and professionalism of all those security officers who have performed their duties during this challenging period. The following are just some of the individuals and companies we would like to acknowledge.
PETER BOYD
Prior to COVID-19, Peter was working with NPB Security as a Crowd Control Supervisor at a busy bar in Perth and as a Security Supervisor at Optus Stadium at major events like Concerts and AFL Matches. With event and hospitality venues being shut down during the crisis, Peter has been reassigned to one of our supermarket client’s sites.
Peter has put his crowd control skills to good use as he manages queues, social distancing, customer behavioural issues and loss prevention. Our client has greatly appreciated Peter’s presence in the store, reporting back that his staff “feel safe” when Peter is on shift.
CORPORATE PROTECTION AUSTRALIA GROUP
CPA Group security officers have assisted with the
BLACKHAWK LOGISTICS SECURITY TEAM
The Blackhawk Logistics Security team (Canberra) have been at the frontline of the COVID-19 epidemic providing the security service for the world’s first full indoor drive through testing station at Exhibition Park in Canberra for the past 3 months of the pandemic from day 1 when the testing centre opened.
The team has been onsite standing side by side with the of the testing process seeing on average 150 vehicles a day assisting with traffic management and the testing process.
The team are not only assisting the nurses with their clinical services but also reassuring the anxious Canberrans being tested for COVID-19.
ACT Health Management recently commended “The team are professional, respectful, pleasant and excellent with patients and with all of the Canberra Hospital Staff working here. We have quickly developed a great sense of camaraderie, with a team of well trained and experienced staff here to support the nursing team.”
ACT Health nursing team 7 days a week during every phase provision of security screeners to check workers arriving at workplaces as diverse as racing, oil and gas, aged care, fishing and mining to ensure they remain safe and productive. The CPA Group team can scan and process over 450 people per hour. The company conducts over 300,000 Coronavirus screenings per month.
PETER HEUMILLER
Peter Heumiller (MP Security (Qld) Pty Ltd) has worked every day since early February without a break. While MP Security is a relatively small team of security officers, they service an area the size of Victoria. Peter has been on call 24/7 to assist staff with any enquiries or issues. He has also ensured that staff received the latest COVID-19 information and access to necessary PPE.
NYCON SECURITY CONTROL ROOM TEAM
Whilst many service industries have been able to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, control room staff cannot do this because the infrastructure needed to perform their function cannot be transferred to a home environment.
The unseen role performed by the Nycon Security Control Room team became much harder during this crisis. Despite this, staff displayed their commitment and dedication to customers and the company by continuing to work throughout the challenging past few months. As part of this the team has dealt with the uncertainty of customers during the crisis, providing them with reassurance and at times counselling, to get through. The extra stress and pressure placed on the team has been taken in their stride. The team deserve a big “thank you” for the effort they have put in.
SECURITY 1 MONITORING CENTRE
The team at Security1’s Monitoring Centre have maintained their high standards with a focus on exceptional customer service throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The leadership team of Angela Dumbrell and Belinda Ryan have gone above and beyond. The team have worked seamlessly with Neville Simpson in the service and installation area and Myke Thomas in the Bureau wholesale monitoring space.
Security 1’s bureaus have taken advantage of their consistent and uninterrupted service through these trying times and relied heavily on the company to maintain a very high standard through the lockdown. “Thank you” to the Security 1 Monitoring Centre team.
SIMON NAA
Simon Naa from Cosmopolitan Protection Services has worked continuously through the entire COVID-19 period, ensuring all clients and customers have been kept safe during this crisis. Simon’s duties have included screening the movement of people, vehicles, maintaining social distancing measures and maintaining building access control and physical security measures. Simon’s public-facing role during these difficult times has demonstrated his courageous and caring character. His contribution to ensuring the safe and continued operation of essential business may have been overlooked by some, but certainly not by Cosmopolitan Protection Services, who say a “sincere thank you to Simon! Keep safe!”
BUSINESS PROTECTION GROUP (BPG)
The demand on BPG services to the British High Commission has increased during the pandemic. With consular staff working from home, security officers took on an important customerfacing role assisting the High Commission in keeping thousands of British nationals across Australia informed and safe.
Some of the Canberra team are pictured with the British High
Commission Network Security Manager Jeff Branch.
THE OPERATIONS TEAM, CENTRAL MONITORING
SERVICES – CMS
The dedicated CMS 24/7 monitoring Centre operations team have continued to work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with a “business as usual” attitude. They have continued to service the needs of thousands of premises throughout the shutdown period and provided a comforting voice to many of those still working. A big “thank you” for being the First to Respond to the thousands of Medical, domestic violence and other requests for assistance calls during the COVID-19 period.
Understanding liquidity and your super
You may have seen the term liquidity used in recent weeks in the media, in regard to super funds. But what does it mean – and how does it impact your super balance?
Liquidity is the proportion of an investment portfolio which is held in cash, or in investments that can readily be sold to raise cash.
Illiquid assets are assets which cannot be easily converted to cash. They take longer to trade or find buyers willing to transact at a given price. These assets include direct property, infrastructure, credit and private equity investments. Unlisted assets play an important role in a diversified portfolio. They often have an investment horizon of decades, rather than years. This makes them attractive for long-term investors, such as super funds, as they can provide stable and predictable cash flows and long-term growth across economic cycles. Importantly, in periods of strong economic growth, their values do not rise to the same extent as listed shares, and in downturns they do not typically fall to the same extent, offering some stability for portfolios.
AustralianSuper has a long-standing track record of investing in unlisted assets both in Australia and across the globe. These assets have contributed to AustralianSuper’s history of strong long-term performance for members. A long-standing approach to managing liquidity
We’re focused on the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic and are monitoring it as it unfolds. AustralianSuper has a long-standing approach to managing liquidity, which has not changed: f we actively manage each Investment Option in line with its long-term investment strategy f we continue to monitor and respond to global investment markets f we manage the Fund’s cash flow on a daily basis f we prepare for events that may affect our liquidity position f we stress-test the portfolio for a range of possible scenarios While short-term periods of volatility and uncertainty can be concerning, we encourage members to stick with their long-term investment strategy.
We encourage you to carefully consider your personal objectives, situation or needs before working out what is right for you. And if you need to you should seek professional advice.
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
australiansuper.com/investment-articles
Sponsored by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd ABN 94 006 457 987, AFSL 233788, Trustee of AustralianSuper ABN 65 714 394 898. Investment returns are not guaranteed. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. This information may be general financial advice which doesn’t take into account your personal objectives, situation or needs. Before making a decision about AustralianSuper, you should think about your financial requirements and refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement, available at australiansuper.com/pds or by calling 1300 300 273.
LOCKDOWN CONDITIONS OF LEARNING
By Ryan Kerseboom, Business Services Manager & Security Risk Consultant, Allied Security Management
While the full impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic will continue to impinge on the lifestyle and wellbeing we had all but taken for granted as Australians, there is an expected and foreboding concern of a second wave of infections, not to mention the inexorable economic repercussions that we will now, all need to overcome.
In such times it is easy to be fixated on the doom and gloom of a situation, seldom acknowledging the noteworthy good fortune that Australia has once again been privileged to experience however, as I begin to reflect upon the difficult period behind us I am compelled to express thanks and feel humbled for the remarkable and self-sacrificing examples that I have had the opportunity to observe throughout this global crisis. There is an incumbent philosophy we all should be embracing as we come through the other side of this adversity made abundantly clear through the policies of social exclusion/separation, and while the sentiment may be somewhat clichéd, it is plainly expressed as: we all depend on one another! A sentiment made most apparent in the provision of security services, amongst the easiest of services to omit and take for granted in the overwhelming Australian approach to value.
Once again Australians should feel a palpable sense of relative isolation, in the most optimistic and presently fitting perception of how this word can be applied to the situation we are all now living with. We really seem to have averted what could have been a much more serious situation which has certainly taken its toll and continues to take its toll on alternative nations around the world. While there is a reality that we have not escaped entirely unscathed and we have undoubtedly faced pockets of COVID-19 related tragedy, it must be emphatically stated that we could have faced much worse.
What has been encouraging is the rapid manner that businesses and clientele have sought to apply security measures against infection, albeit somewhat superficial and costed in proportion to considerably downsized profits, the responsive call for security has been admirable but alas, unsustained. Once the financial implications of securing what has effectively become a “business on hold” in many cases is realised, security services are all too often cut entirely or to a point where they cannot reasonably be effective at maintaining the security of a facility and its personnel.
Spending in relation to the provision of security services has been curtailed almost entirely as a result of reduced business conduct of most client’s core businesses. While this is understandable from a business perspective, there are naturally significant risks associated with such an approach to an arguably “essential service” such as security. In any case, although many clients may have auspiciously navigated through the downturn with a favourable security outcome, it would be imprudent to say the least, to extend such a cost cutting measure any longer than is absolutely required.
It would pay (in the long run) to appreciate that while businesses are doing it tough, individuals are also losing their jobs and income sources at or approaching recessional rates. It would be entirely plausible for this to precipitate in rising levels of criminality resulting from an agenda to derive replacement revenue and a perceived, easily obtained, alternative means of survival. The positive correlation between joblessness and crime or public upheaval is a phenomenon that is well established and unfortunately, while timing makes such considerations onerous, remains a critical aspect businesses need to contemplate during and through the recovery from this crisis.
Unfortunately, irrespective of pandemics, major environmental disaster and/or nearly every crisis one could imagine, the extant and more routine security threats do not abate. There is always news or statistics of some nauseating effort to exploit such situations for criminal or
fraudulent objectives when people and communities are least capable of defence, even when the crisis serves as a diversion for more “regular” criminal endeavours. In many respects and contrary to all common decency, such events are usually the stimulus that makes security services so necessary.
Taking such philosophy further, there is a very real prospect that this and/or similar situations will be utilised to leverage the impact that more serious threats like terrorism and organised crime could have. While social distancing and travel restrictions are a very effective measure against the conduct of life-threatening terrorist attacks, they also constitute some pretty opportunistic junctures for extremist organisations to use this time to support or prepare operations, ultimately towards this end. The competing media focus and otherwise occupied public may be caught looking away for just long enough to facilitate the next “big” attack. Beyond this however, law enforcement and security services must remain cognisant that COVID-19 related rules may in fact make some elements of what terrorists and serious criminals do (or plan to do) easier, potentially requiring a rethink regarding how such services conduct operations mid pandemic.
While officers that have experience working in hospitals or laboratory environments may have been somewhat prepared to manage the unique biological security burden that was thrust upon them, it is fair to say that the great majority have been performing a kind of security service that they never would have envisioned as part of their profession. Such circumstances give rise to personnel exposing themselves to much greater risk than they know and/or have been made aware, with a very real potential that employers and clients who have been reactionary with security services, assuming the liabilities associated with possible consequences.
Never before has the emphasis of “no contact” security been so important, security personnel have increasingly been deployed to conduct pre-entry screening checks at business entry points to ensure any infected personnel showing any preliminary symptoms are not allowed entry. During such an assignment, any experienced security operator
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H o n g K o n g F l u will be aware that the refusal of entry of an employee determined to be a risk will at minimum result in some kind of confrontation where mandatory distancing rules will almost certainly be infringed upon. Needless to say, performing access control type security work at a distance is challenging at the best of times but this challenge reaches new levels when the distance is necessary to avoid potentially deadly virus exposure.
At a local/individual level the expectations placed upon security personnel in response to the pandemic have been at best, uncharted. The relative lack of leadership from the very top down has been profound with an irrational and corresponding disregard towards a coordinated global response. Respectively, officers who are not well remunerated, briefed or secure in their positions, facing a new threat that nobody seems to have clear information about are placed in a very delicate and potentially life-threatening situation that must at times have appeared despairing. These are the conditions that usually result in desperation and a reactionary response that seriously undermines the profession.
We have already encountered several prominent red flags with HIV, SARS 1, H1N1-Swine Flu, Zika Virus, Bird Flu, Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (Mad Cow Disease), Hong Kong Flu, etc. notwithstanding the more prolific isolated outbreaks of infectious disease like Bubonic Plague, Ebola and Yellow Fever in many less developed nations. Despite the appreciation for the complexities associated with a united national, or more complex still, international response to a pandemic or biological attack, now must surely be the time for the development of universally adopted and applied response plans. As a forward thinking and responsible member nation of the international community we should seek to exploit this experience as the time to treat such a threat as serious, pending the unexplored potential for biological pandemics to occur again with even greater lethality.
The reactionary approach taken by the governments of the world whose primary responsibility is to protect their citizens, is enlightening from a security perspective. Having observed some of these responses I am left with a vexing concern that governments
are supposed to know how to respond to such threats in a much more decisive manner! I am hesitant to come to the conclusion that the responsible governments of the world will take some very pertinent lessons from this outbreak and implement defensive rather than reactive measures for the next, potentially more severe or even worse, intentional pandemic.
Taking this line of logic further, I am a little confused how governments who have assured their public that they have taken appropriate measures to keep the public safe from potential biological attacks have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in such an undeveloped manner. In essence, the government response entailed pretty extreme improvised measures of isolation and lockdown at relatively crippling financial cost. In light of the threat from terrorism I remain perplexed that no government, or at least those with the greatest risk profile, have engaged what could be considered a sophisticated and readied response to a phenomenon that easily could have been premeditated.
Given the dire economic impact of COVID-19 and the prospect of relatively protracted periods of recuperation, perhaps this will be the feature to coerce governments into taking a proactive as opposed to reactive stance against similar events that are extremely likely to occur in the future. While the facts regarding how events could have played out will never be known, many have argued a more rapid and decisive government response not only would have saved lives, but also a significant measure of economic decline. From a simple cost versus benefit analysis, such plans surely constitute a smart investment that would avoid much greater economic turmoil associated with further reactionary responses to future pandemics.
Returning to more localised observations, a stark realisation that has become clear amidst this pandemic has to be the really dedicated and brave personnel in a vast array of professions that have stepped up during this period that we all need to appreciate. People in professions that all too often are simply overlooked, if not occasionally frowned upon! Be they shelf packers, cleaners, delivery people, checkout staff, security officers or a myriad of the lower paid ranks who would normally be taken for granted until funds tighten and they’re made expendable, have momentarily had an overt opportunity to show just how important they are. While it is true that a great many of these workers were obliged to continue working due to infeasible income alternatives, a vast number of these people resolved to continue to protect client assets and interests and endure elevated personal risks to provide services that had become even more essential overnight.
My genuine hope is that a vast array of businesses and their personnel will have some kind of epiphany regarding the value that these lower remunerated and more frequently encountered workers bring to the ongoing success, safety and wellbeing of any business. While in the case of security, the service sometimes presents like a vehicle to simply lower insurance premiums, the truth is actually more intrinsically aligned with genuine value substantiated through the committed application of all the complex and multifaceted aspects of what security is, and what it continues evolving to be.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it some life-threatening, socially and economically cataclysmic challenges, it is during such times that the world can truly unite against what is an undisputed common enemy. To capitalize from the necessary cost of hardship, it must be incumbent upon the governments and leaders of business throughout the world to harness all the lessons possible from this experience and invest during the good times to limit the impact of similar crises into the future. To be clear, such investment should also take the form of acclaim towards the courageous working personnel who are seldom recognised, easily overlooked and undervalued until such time that we need them to stand between us and the next potentially deadly threat!
There is always news or statistics of some nauseating effort to exploit such situations for criminal or fraudulent objectives when people and communities are least capable of defence, even when the crisis serves as a diversion for more “regular” criminal endeavours
About the Author: Ryan Kerseboom
Business Services Manager & Security Risk Consultant Allied Security Management Ryan has a Double Masters Degree in Policing, Intelligence & Counter-terrorism + International Security and a Bachelor Degree of Security, Terrorism & Counter-terrorism and has worked in the government and private security sector for around 15 years. With a unique insight acquired from academic vigour and diverse practical exposure alike, Ryan is capable of integrating the knowledge and skills from both approaches simultaneously. Ryan maintains an inspired and consultative mindset regarding the current dynamics of the security environment in Australia and beyond, with an eclectic appreciation for the extensive considerations of any security.
