On November 25th 2019, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) announced a new campaign to address violence against security staff and to promote safe working environments for licensed individuals.
Call #SaferWorkplaces, the campaign aims to encourage security staff to report acts of violence against them while also pushing employers to take a more active role in maintaining a safe working environment and looking after the wellbeing of their staff.
This new campaign is in a similar thread to the #SaferNightsOut campaign which ran between June and July this year. The difference in these two initiatives is that #SaferNightsOut targeted security personnel who operate within the night-time economy and #SaferWorkplaces targets the day-time economy operatives.
“Too often the burden of dealing with violence falls on the shoulders of individual security operatives. They take responsibility when a situation escalates, and they pay the price, often in injury or trauma. Their employers, and the managers of the venues and events at which they work should be working hard to address the causes of violence. In situations where violence does happen, all those responsible for security staff should be encouraging them to report it. It’s not ‘all in a day’s work’ for a security operative to return home to their family injured”, says Security Industry Authority, Director of Partnerships and Interventions, Ed Bateman.
The campaign is composed of both digital and physical components and will run from 25th November to the 6th December. During this period, SIA staff will visit 25 towns across the country.
“Security companies and venues have a crucial part to play in reducing violence against their staff. They can do this by conducting proper risk assessments and taking practical measures to ensure a safer environment. For venue owners, there is a clear benefit to them; a safe and well-run venue is far more attractive to the public. It is also crucial that anyone who employs or uses security operatives is supportive of their staff in the face of violence. This means encouraging them to report incidents of violence against them” added Kevin Young, SIA South East Region Partnerships and Interventions team leader.