Security guard, or security officers, are in demand now-a-days in almost all the companies and ventures as well as for home security. They may work in different infrastructures such as public buildings, universities, banks, airports, private establishments, museums, shops, retail stores, hospitals, apartments and homes etc.

Security guard also hired for short term such as in any event in the city or town to control the crowd, maintain entry and exit gates and avoiding gate crashes, to keep high profile and VIPs safe, security of event related equipment and avoiding or checking paparazzi from shooting private event.

As per the report in The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), it predicts the overall number of security guard job opportunities will increase 19 percent from 2010 to 2020 and 12.1 percent from 2012 to 2022.

The primary goal of the security guard (security officer) is to save and protect the property of its employer. They are considered as the first line of defense for businesses and homes against any external or internal threats, intrusion and any kind of vulnerabilities to the property and its dwellers.

In case, if you are looking for the Security guards, or security officers for your premises then the responsibilities of the Security guards, or security officers becomes the requirements of yours. In a nutshell, Security guards, or security officers responsibilities are the exact requirements you are looking for in your next Security guards, or security officers.

Security Guard Responsibilities

The primary responsibility is to protect these establishments from any kind of threat, however there are other major roles and responsibilities (learn more about jobs and duties of security guard) a Security Guard, or security officer, performs are as below-

1. Protect the premises and its dwellers from any security threat

The main goal is to protect the premises and its dwellers from any outside threats, as they are considered to be defensive rather than offensive. Security guard, or security officer takes preventative actions to deter crime, including trespassing and burglaries. They should be visible and observant all the time to prevent any intrusion and crime on the property. Employer or security service provider should teach security prevention best practices to their personnel.

2. Respond on any incident and reporting it to the employer

Responding to any incident happened and take the preventive action as well as report this to the employer as soon as possible. They should be alert during their duty hours and should know when to call for help before the situation gets out of control.

Security guards, and security officers are expected to observe the environment they are protecting.

3. Technical to control the monitoring system and operate security devices

Most of the premises who required security guards are equipped with latest monitoring devices and security cameras. The security guard should have technical knowledge about monitoring the security system. If anything happens then they should present with the surveillance activity, video recording, and signatures etc.

They should be able to operate the security devices and gadgets provided by the employer, and should follow its manufacturers instructions for the safety of the devices. They should be able to troubleshoot malfunctions of the devices, normal repairs, evaluating new equipment and techniques and should report for the repair or replacement of security device if facing major problems.

4. Ability to communicate with public

The security guard, or security officer should verbally communicate and enforce the rules and procedures for guests to enter on the premises. They can also alert the government officials or authorities if any serious incident is taking place.

5. Cooperation in the team

In the any establishment, there could be more than one security guard, or security officer, and effective cooperation should be established among the security guards and should follow the orders of the security officer.

6. Monitoring GPS enabled vehicles

The security guard should be able to monitor the GPS enabled vehicles of the company, should be able to track their route and stoppages, should report his observations if  any unusual activity appears in route or stoppages on the monitoring system to its reporting security officers.

7. Honesty in security guard

The security guard, or security officer should be honest to its duties and employer as one is responsible for securing the establishment and its dwellers. Dishonest security personnel might put the company at risk. The background check is required of the security guards to make sure that they do not have any criminal history or dishonest activity.

8. Physically fit and mentally alert

This is the primary responsibility of the security guard to be physically fit and mentally alert. The security service provider should provide the health certificate of the security guard to the hiring company.

9. Maintain safe and secure environment, dwellers should feel sense of security

As the security guard, or security officer, one should maintain secure and safe environment in the company or any establishment so that the inmates such as customers and employees may feel safe and secure. You can learn more about private security guard business.

10. Patrolling and monitoring premises and personnel

The security guard, or security officer should always be patrolling and monitoring premises and personnel inside the campus. They should ask all the personnel to show ID cards anytime if they feel that someone is without ID cards, they should inform the names of violators of policy and procedures to their reporting officer or concerned person of the premises. They should be able to monitor the activities on the monitoring devices as well to restrain trespassers and violators.

11. Comply by the legal requirements

The security guard, or security officer should comply the government rules and regulations to become the security officer. This depends upon the country to country and their legal frameworks for the private security personnel.

12 Ability to handle emergency situations

The security guard, or security officer should be able to handle emergency situations such as fire. In this case, the security guard may be expected to activate the fire alarm and contact the fire department. He should be able to help the dwellers to get them out of the affected area.

13. Ability to identify suspicious objects

The security guard, or security officer should be able to identify any suspicious object in the premises, they should report immediately it to the handling team, Police etc.

14. Identify people with odd behavior

The security guard, or security officer should be able to identify individuals with odd behavior such as any person hanging around the same place for too long without seeming to have any business there. The security guard should be able to read body language of any individual who potentially pose a security risk to the premises.

15. Helping by nature

The security guard, or security officer should be helping by nature, if any inmate need help then they should be able to deliver their help to the needy. A security guard can only achieve this if he or she is trained properly.

Overall they are the prime layer of the security in the premises so they should be inspecting buildings, equipment, and should be able to monitor access points and should permitting the genuine entry. If they found any unusual activity then they should be able to seek help by sounding alarms.

Security Guard Post – Age and Educational Requirements

This depends on the Country to Country the requirement of security guard is open, but in most of the cases minimum age for the security guard post is 18+ years, education requirements may vary, but most employers take high school diploma plus. Applicants must also pass criminal background checks and some countries require fingerprints, eyes scan etc. as well.

Security Service Company – How To Choose Right One?

There remains thousand of the security service agency in each city who offer security jobs to the individuals and in the same way they approach to the establishments with their security offers and plans. Since becoming security guard does not require higher education, so they find a lot of individuals/candidates for the same.

As an individual or an establishment, we should be able to find the right security service for our premises either home or office. Let us see some of the general points to be considered before hiring the security personnel although they may differ from country to country-

1. Providing initial training and certifications to security guard or not

In some countries and states, certification for security guard, or security officer is must to take care of the private establishments. You should check whether the security company or security service is providing the proper training to its security guard or not and also the security guard, or security officer possess required certifications or not.

You can also check the security company you select, should show you credentials for the company and their employees.

2. Carrying background check of the security guard or not

You should check the background checking certificate/paper of the security guard i.e. past record of the personnel, whether the security service is carrying out the background check by itself or hiring third party to do this.

3. Background of the security service and years of experience

Check the background of the security company such as other businesses they are doing, types of services they are providing, past record of the company, list of clients served so far, current list of clients serving, issues in the services, years of experience in security service etc.

4. Collect the reviews from social media and from the existing client about the security service company

If you want to know more about the security service then you can get reviews about the security company from the social media and review sites in your respective countries, Facebook, Twitter and Quora might be the mediums.

5. Providing continuous training and skill enhancement

You should ask about the continuous training and skill enhancement of security guard. Since continuous upgrade in the guarding skill is required with keeping in mind the evolution in the style of burglary and crime patterns.

6. You should check the training facilities of the security service such as training ground, instructor and training equipment

There are various illegal security service providers spread across the country and approximately in all nations. They don’t follow norms laid down by the respective Governments and running like mushrooms. They do not have the training facilities such as training ground, instructors or any training equipment.

7. Salary structure and mode of payment

Check the salary structure of the security guard, mode of payment to security service by you and mode of crediting the salary of security guard by security service agency or company.

Security Service (Private) Regulations In India

The security service in India comes under Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005 (PSARA) Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. PSARA (“psara[dot]gov[dot]in“) allows every Indian state to formulate different rules for implementation for private security, such as Delhi Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Rules, 2007; Haryana Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Rules, 2007; Uttar Pradesh Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Rules, 2007; etc.

If anyone wants to open security service in India, then one should follow the guidelines provided in the Act. The Act is to-

1. 1. Regulate functioning of Private Security Agencies so that they operate within a legal framework and are accountable to a regulatory mechanism.
   2. Provision of Controlling Authority to be appointed by State Governments for the purpose of granting licences.
   3. License mandatory for carrying on business of private security agency.

Security Service (Private) Regulations In UK

The private security service in UK comes under Private Security Industry Act 2001, by The Security Industry Authority (SIA) which is the statutory organization responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK. It was established as a non-departmental public body in 2003 which reports to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act.

If you want to open private security service company in UK then you need to get registered with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to the necessary license. For more information, please refer startups[dot]co[dot]uk.

Security Service (Private) Act and Regulations In Australia

The private security service in Australia comes under Private Security Act 2004 VIC, and regulation under Private Security Regulations 2016 VIC.

If you want to open private security service business company in Australia, then you need to get registered with-

1. 1. Licensing and Regulation Division (Victoria Police) for State of Victoria (“police[dot]vic[dot]gov[dot]au/homepage“)
   2. Security Licensing & Enforcement Directorate (SLED) for New South Wales (“police[dot]nsw[dot]gov[dot]au/online_services/security_licensing_and_enforcement_directorate“)
   3. Access Canberra for Australian Capital Territory (“accesscanberra[dot]act[dot]gov[dot]au/app/answers/detail/a_id/1719/kw/security%20licencing#!tabs-2″)
   4. Department of Business for Northern Territory (“nt[dot]gov[dot]au/industry/licences/security-licences“)
   5. Office of Fair Trading for Queensland (“qld[dot]gov[dot]au/law/laws-regulated-industries-and-accountability/queensland-laws-and-regulations/regulated-industries-and-licensing/regulated-industries-licensing-and-legislation/security-industry-regulation”)
   6. Consumer and Business Services for South Australia (“sa[dot]gov[dot]au/topics/business-and-trade/licensing/security“)
   7. Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading for Tasmania (“cbos[dot]tas[dot]gov[dot]au/topics/licensing-and-registration/licensed-occupations/security-and-investigation-agents“)
   8. Licensing Enforcement Division (WA Police) for Western Australia (“police[dot]wa[dot]gov[dot]au/About-Us/Our-Agency/Police-Licensing-Services/Security“)

These are some of the information summarized for the article Security Guard – Find Right Security Service And Regulations.

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