Long-awaited launch of Good Practice Guideline

Long-awaited launch of Good Practice Guidelines

NZSA CEO Gary Morrison announces the launch later this month of the Security Services in New Zealand Good Practice Guidelines, which will provide clear guidance on health and safety and operational compliance.

On the 18th November 2011 Security Officer Charanpreet Singh Dhaliwal commenced employment with CNE Security and was assigned to work at a construction site in Henderson. Tragically he was not to return home from his first night at his new job.

During the evening four offenders entered the site. Mr Dhaliwal confronted them, one of the offenders picked up a piece of wood and struck Mr Dhaliwal at least twice to the head. The cause of death was attributed to blunt force trauma.

The Coroner’s investigation into the death identified a number of industry issues around licensing and training and also highlighted the need for an industrywide Code of Practice or Guideline as to what constitutes good practice. Whilst the licensing and training recommendations were implemented with some expediency, the development of the Guidelines was unfortunately deemed to be of low priority by WorkSafe (the agency tasked with development by the Coroner) and was never progressed.

Several years ago, the NZSA and E tū raised this matter with WorkSafe but were advised that other industry sectors were of a higher priority, and development of guidelines remained unlikely. At this time the NZSA took ownership of the project and through the collective efforts of a number of security providers, the NZSA Board and Etu developed the document that will be launched this month.

The Security Services in New Zealand Good Practice Guidelines is recognised as an ‘across industry’ guideline that all security providers should be aware of and comply with. The document provides clear guidance on health and safety and operational compliance.

In addition to chapters on general health and safety issues and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, the document includes chapters on guidelines for security companies, for property guards, for mobile security patrol guards, for training, and on the Protective Security Requirements (PSR).

Copies of the document will be available via the NZSA, PSPLA and E tū websites, and all newly licensed

security providers will be informed about the document as part of the licensing process. It should also be noted that the document is intended to be accessed by employees as well as employers.

The NZSA notes that the guidelines document is dedicated to Mr Dhaliwal, to his family, and all other security guards who have suffered serious harm whilst performing their duties. It is also intended that the document will help in ensuring the improved health and safety of those working in the industry currently and in the future.

As stated in the Introduction to the document, “Good practice in health and safety is about more than complying with the law. It is about creating a safer workplace through good management and cultural change so the security industry continues to strive towards good practice in health and safety management and do everything reasonably practicable to protect its people.”

Looking forward, the Good Practice Guidelines will be a working document with regular updates and it is intended that additional sections covering Event Security and Hospital Security requirements will be added later this year. As part of the process, the NZSA would welcome feedback and suggestions.