Message From The Board
Welcome to the latest edition of the Senator, and an especially warm welcome to those who have recently joined us. We are pleased that the number and diversity of our sites has increased and this is a reflection of the professionalism and dedication of all our staff. This has been reflected in our highest ACS (Approved Contractor Scheme) score that makes us one of the top 5% of Security Companies in the scheme. The challenge is to improve that score when we are next audited. The last 12 months have seen the addition of a CCTV Installation and Maintenance Division under Mark Lippitt, expand our Parking Operations and enter into strategic partnerships with cleaning contractors to strengthen Senators’ capabilities. In addition we have strengthened our Management Team with the recent arrivals of David Gowen–Porter in Wales and David Aldis in London. We wish them every success. For many customers their focus right now is cost savings. Senator is investing in our people and systems as we believe that a better trained and well supported Security Officer, who knows their site and Senators’ capability and is vigilant, can find these savings within their branch. We hope you find this Newsletter informative and interesting and the email style accessible. If you have any comments or wish to contribute a news story please feel free to contact us at punchbag@senatorsecurity.co.uk or tell your Manager. We look forward to meeting with you as we visit sites around the Country. Best wishes Sean, Andy & Robbie
HEALTH & SAFETY. Bill Searle, our Health & Safety Manager is pleased to report that we have not had to make a RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (1995)) report in the last 12 months. Until recently these regulations required an employer to register an occurrence with the HSE if it resulted in over 3 days absence from work within 7 days of the incident taking place. In future any incident will have to be reported only if it results in an absence from work longer than 7 days and it now has to be reported within 15 days. In previous years the majority of our RIDDOR reports from 2011 and 2012 had to be made because of injuries that had been incurred because of violence. In some of these cases this has been totally unpredictable and unprovoked but it is worthwhile reminding you and asking you revise the conflict skills that you would have been taught in your SIA training-: S – Step back A - Assess the situation F – Find help/do you need help E – Evaluate and form a plan R – Respond using the plan then review and change as required Remember My attitude – affects – My behaviour – affects – Your attitude – affects – Your behaviour – affects – My attitude This is an on-going circle in a potential conflict situation and the only person who can change it is YOU by maintaining the right attitude. P – Position: allow exit routes don’t block A – Attitude: display a positive and helpful attitude L – Look & Listen: keep normal eye contact; actively show you are listening to the problem or concern M – Make space: maintain a comfortable distance Stranger space = 1.2 – 3 metres Normal space = 0.5 – 1.2 metre Intimate space = 0 – 0.5 metres S – Stance: shoulders relaxed, Palms displayed, turn to one side. These are just some of the skills you need to keep up to scratch. Try to remember them, and where possible withdraw from conflict and call the police.
It is very good we have got to where we are this year. Now we want to maintain it. To do this:Remember your training Read and understand the Risk Assessment and Assignment instructions. Be aware of your surroundings including weather, light and the environment you are working in. Wear the correct PPE Report any Health & Safety concerns you have. OHSAS 18001 UPDATE We are now in our second year of holding this accreditation and have done well throughout the various audits. I would take this opportunity to thank those people involved in the site visits and audit for the positive attitude displayed. A management review was held in May where new objectives have been agreed, the first of these is to take the new Systems Division to the standard. In addition, Senator Security will provide, where possible, more Health & Safety training. As you well be aware one of the objectives last year was to form a Health & Safety committee but for various reasons this has not been completed yet and stays an objective for 2013. In the retail shopping centre environment Senator Security are tendering for – and winning – contracts that combine both Security and Cleaning. This in turn means that we will be more involved in COSHH “Control of Substances Hazardous to Health “. Where this applies, pre training will be given to all the staff who will be involved. REPORTING To maintain a safe environment for all it is important that everybody plays their part and reports any concerns they may have over any Health & Safety issues, accidents, near misses or dangerous occurrences. You should do this through your Line Manager, to the Health & Safety Manager or indeed the Operations Director. If we don’t know your concerns then we can’t deal with them, please do not have any reservations in talking to us. Many thanks and I hope we have another 12 accident free months.
HR UPDATE Workplace Pensions Auto enrolment No, honestly, pensions are interesting . . . Are you bored and/or confused by the thought of pensions? Very few of Senator Security employees are in the Company pension scheme. A change in the law is upon us, though, which is likely to affect you, so please read on. The government has been worrying about supporting our aging population for years. Over the past twenty years, the pace of changes to state pensions has increased in response to this. Here are some examples: • The state pension age for men and women will equalise at 65 from 2018 • The state pension age will rise to 66 by 2020; to 67 by 2028 and to 68 by 2046 • The State Second Pension will be abolished and a flat rate pension of £140 per week will be introduced from 2016 The big legislative change for employers and employees, however, is the introduction of pension auto-enrolment which for Senator Security will start in early 2014. What is pensions auto-enrolment? Employers will be required to: • automatically enrol “eligible jobholders” into a suitable pension scheme and pay contributions to it on earnings between £5,564 and £42,475 (“qualifying earnings”) • allow “non-eligible job holders” to opt in to the pension scheme and pay contributions to it on qualifying earnings • allow “entitled workers” access to the scheme, but with no requirement to make employer contributions Why is it being introduced? The government says that not enough of us are saving for our old age.Currently, you have to opt in to a pension scheme. In future, if you do nothing, you will be saving. Auto-enrolment has increased saving dramatically in other countries. What is a suitable pension scheme? It is a “defined contribution” scheme, which means that the pension you can expect on retirement is based on the value of your pension fund. The auto-enrolment legislation states that a “suitable” pension must provide: • a default investment strategy • a default retirement age (which will equal your state pension age) • a default contribution level What contributions have to be made? The minimum contributions will increase over time:
From 2014 Employee = 1% // Employer = 1% From 2017 Employee = 3% // Employer = 2% From 2018 Employee = 5% // Employer = 3% Who is an “eligible jobholder”? A worker whose age is: • Between 22 and State Pension Age • Earning more than £8,105 per annum (this is assessed monthly) We think that about most Senator Security staff are eligible jobholders and will be automatically enrolled into the pension scheme. New joiners will be enrolled after 3 months service. Who is a non-eligible jobholder? A worker who is either: • Aged 16 to 75 • Has qualifying earnings but earns less than £8,105 Or who is: • Aged 16 to 22 or State Pension Age to 75 • Has qualifying earnings and earns at least £8,105 Quite a number of Senator Security staff are non eligible jobholders. They will not be automatically enrolled but can “opt in”. Who is an entitled worker? A worker who is: • Aged 16 to 75 • Has no qualifying earnings • Not currently in the Company pension scheme Very few Senator Security staff are entitled workers. They will not be automatically enrolled but can apply to join. If I am auto-enrolled, must I contribute to a pension scheme? No, you can opt out, but not until after you have been enrolled. You will have one month to opt out and if you do so in that period, you will get a refund of your contributions. You can stop your contributions at any stage after this, but you will not be able to access your pension fund until you are at least 55. I am already in the Company pension scheme, does auto-enrolment affect me? It seems likely, yes. For example, the Company needs to ensure that the current pension scheme: • meets the standards required by autoenrolment • can be run with many more members More information will be available as the project progresses.
What can I expect next? The Company is planning a series of communications starting later this year in the run up to the start next year. These will explain the pension scheme on offer in more detail, how auto-enrolment will affect you personally, and provide channels of communication for questions and concerns. WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE – HOW WE CALCULATE HOLIDAY PAY In our business we have a large number of sites working a variety of shift patterns and it is important that we calculate your holiday pay entitlement correctly. We will follow to the letter the ACAS guidelines which are detailed below. Should have any questions about this please contact your Line Manager. Holiday pay For each week of their statutory leave entitlement workers are entitled to be paid a week’s pay calculated in accordance with sections 221-224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 as follows: Workers with normal working hours • if a worker’s pay does not vary with the amount of work done then a week’s pay is the amount due for a week’s work under the worker’s contract. Pay for non-contractual overtime is excluded. • if a worker’s pay varies with the amount of work done then the amount of a week’s pay is the pay for the normal weekly working hours multiplied by the workers average hourly rate over the preceding 12 weeks. This may occur under a piece work, bonus or commission system. To calculate the average hourly rate, only hours where the worker was working, and the pay related to them, should be taken into account. Overtime hours can be included although pay for these hours should be adjusted to the normal rate. Any week in which no pay was due, for hours worked, should be replaced by the last previous week in which pay was received for hours worked. • shift and rota workers, whose pay varies because they work their normal hours at varying times and in varying amounts in different weeks, have their week’s pay calculated differently. Their average weekly hours of work, in the preceding 12 weeks, are multiplied by their average hourly rate. The hourly rate is calculated as above and includes any shift allowance which is payable.
Workers with no normal working hours: • If a worker has no normal working hours then a week’s pay is the average pay received over the preceding 12 weeks. Any week for which no pay was due should be replaced by the last previous week for which pay was due.
CCTV INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE, ACCESS CONTROL, KEY HOLDING AND REMOTE MONITORING
Should have any questions about this please contact your Line Manager. STAFF SURVEY We undertook our second staff survey earlier this year and the results are shown below. This time there was a much larger response and whilst the results are generally good – it has highlighted some areas that can be improved. Hopefully you will see some positive changes and we look forward to seeing these improve when we make another survey.
Senator Integrated Systems, the newly formed security technology division of Senator Security Services Limited, is founded on a simple concept to provide cost effective alarm, access control, remote monitoring and CCTV surveillance technology solutions with the best service and best back up to businesses and organisations in the UK. Mark Lippitt, General Manager of Senator Integrated Systems, commented; “Our business is committed to building and maintaining long term business relationships by providing industry leading service, security technology and advanced security solutions that benefit our customers and help them protect their staff, business property and assets. Security technology is now, in certain circumstances, a trusted and proven, viable alternative to traditional manned guarding, or, used intelligently, it provides a cost effective supplement to your manned guarding provision. We also have our own, UK based, National Operations Centre which contains our Remote Monitoring station.”
Within just a few weeks of the new division being operational Senator Integrated Systems has successfully completed CCTV installations and maintenance projects for a school, power station, port and a number of shopping centres. Sean McGranaghan, MD of Senator Security, added; “This was a natural development for our business as an increasing number of
clients look to technology in order to improve efficiencies and enhance their security provision. We have significant operational experience in the retail, construction and education sectors where technology is widely utilised for security surveillance and access control and Senator Integrated Systems will play a key role in enabling us to meet our clients’ security requirements now and in the future. We are delighted to welcome Mark Lippitt as our Divisional General Manager who brings many years experience in the CCTV and Access Control business and will, I’m sure, quickly establish Senator Integrated Systems as the provider of choice for, amongst others, businesses, local councils, car park operators, schools, colleges, Universities, construction companies and shopping centres in England and Wales.” ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
VIGILANCE & AWARENESS Many threats face the shopping centres and retail parks; terrorism, gang violence, riot, arson and natural disaster – one such threat that is ever present in modern times is terrorism and a key to successful anti-terrorism operation is the effectiveness of the Centres’ communications operation and ensuring that all Security Officers are intrinsically involved as the additional ‘eyes and ears on the ground’ to provide early warning and/or prevent any potential ‘flash points’ and identify suspicious behaviour that may lead to such an occurrence. There is certainly a place for our well-managed CCTV, remote monitoring and coordinated alarm response but there remains the real need for the experience and intuition of a manned guarding presence.
The “Operation Fairway” initiative and this video reminds us how good communication and teamwork within a centre can prevent a potential terrorist situation and then also demonstrates the negatives of a poor, complacent team with catastrophic consequences. This clearly demonstrates how crucial it is to involve everyone in the Centres/Retail Parks security operation with everyone knowing his or her defined roles and responsibilities. This raises many issues and if you feel you want more information or advice about this important matter please discuss it with your Line Manager. Please take a few moments to watch this video - it will be valuable and thought provoking.
We are a ISO 14001 (Environmental Standard) Accredited Company, and we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint as an organisation. We constantly monitor our fuel consumption in our vehicles and our electricity consumption within our offices and invest in ways to reduce our usage. We have reduced our paper consumption and this newsletter being sent by email as well as the emailing of payslips in one example of using technology to help us with that. Our customers, we know, are always keen to make a similar impact as well and it may well be that you can see opportunities to make a positive environmental impact on your site. If you do then either tell the client yourself or let your Line Manager know.
Senator Security Services Limited, 1a Palace View, Bromley, Kent BR1 3EJ
Certificate No. 8431 ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 OHSAS 18001