Why is it so hard to find security officers with satisfactory English?

The industry has a problem, and unfortunately everybody seems to be falling over themselves to avoid talking about it……

Security Officers may be called upon to take a leadership role in any incident or emergency. It is a fundamental part of the job which is after all, the protection of people and property.

It is absolutely essential that, when the muck hits the fan, a Security Officer must be able to clearly, accurately and concisely convey important information to staff, the public, and the emergency services. An inability to do this renders the Officer in question a liability, and a potential danger to themselves and all those around them.

A satisfactory grasp of the English language is required of every Security Officer. This is not a race issue. It is not discriminatory. It is quite simply the most basic requirement for anyone working in the UK security industry regardless of race, religion, age, sex, colour, disability or anything else.

The SIA has emphasised the need for satisfactory English to be required by training providers, prior to a course being undertaken:

“Centres are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure that each learner is sufficiently competent in the use of the English language and MUST ensure that learners have sufficient language skills before putting learners forward for assessment.  Learners must be able to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing, having the appropriate communication skills to be able to, for example, make calls to the emergency services or to resolve conflict.”

“Trainers are required to retain English assessment records for non-native speakers with the other assessment documentation for learners for a period of 3 years after certification. The SIA is taking allegations that licence holders do not have the requisite language skills very seriously, and as a result of their investigations into this matter a number of licences have already been revoked this year.”

So, to be clear, adequate English is a legal requirement in order to obtain an SIA licence. Unfortunately, it is the training providers that make this assessment, and the unscrupulous ones care more about money, than the potential danger caused by the incompetent students that they churn out.

So why is the standard of English so poor amongst so many, especially recently qualified SIA licensed personnel?

There are many truly excellent training companies out there, doing fantastic work, run by diligent professionals that are just as frustrated by the damage the rogue element is doing to the image of our industry.

Sadly these rogue “training” companies prey on migrant communities, convincing many that security is an easy way to earn money, and that they don’t really need to know anything to be employed, as long as they are willing to hand over a couple of hundred quid and work for minimum wage for a shady security staff agency.

Get Licensed fully vets and assesses the training providers that it utilizes, so I spoke to some of their top training sector insiders about this horrendous problem.

One highly experienced sector leader told me, “If you walk around the East End of London there are dozens of signs above shops offering SIA Training and many of these are the problem.”

He went on, “These cowboys operate where there are large immigrant populations, and gain their business via word of mouth, often from families and friends that recommend the services of these rogue outfits, because they will give a certificate to anyone who will pay, much of the time without any form of training ever being undertaken….”

I asked him about the “failsafes” and systems introduced by the SIA in order to stamp this out.

He was adamant, “Within days of a new procedure being implemented, the cowboy companies have worked out ways to get around it. It’s incredible the ingenuity that these criminals demonstrate.”

This analysis chimed with my recent experience.

A few weeks ago, returning to work after having to take a week off due to the dreaded Covid, I paid a visit to a contract that I look after near the South coast. There had been a few new Security Officers recently assigned to site by my operations support department, in my absence, and I had not vetted them before deployment.

I try to talk to as many Officers as possible on these visits, to make sure that their welfare is being looked after, and to discuss any issues or problems that may arise, so I grabbed a desk in the restroom and asked the shift supervisor to send in one of the new Officers.

It was quickly apparent that something was very wrong.

I was introduced to a young lady, who was very well presented and in full and correct uniform. When I asked her to take a seat, she just stood and smiled at me. I sat down and gestured to the chair opposite, and she sat down. I asked her how long she had been on site, and she just smiled. I went on to ask her when she started working here. She nodded and nervously just said “yes”. I asked her if she knew the phonetic alphabet, and it was clear from her blank expression that she did not have the slightest idea what I was saying. When she was unable to tell me where she lived, I pointed to the SIA licence around her neck and gestured for her to hand it to me, which she did. I fired up my laptop, and checked that the licence was genuine, which it was, and then checked that the credentials were valid, which they were.

Possibly most frustrating was that she was not able to understand me when I told her she was being removed from site and her employment terminated with immediate effect, as it was clear that she had not passed a genuine mandatory training course, and therefore her SIA credentials were without doubt, fraudulently obtained.

Thankfully, my shift Supervisor spoke her native language, and passed on the bad news.

Besides the obvious danger of using this type of cheap labour, it causes huge reputational damage to those companies who own the sites at which they work. Worst of all, every exchange they have with members of the public is going to leave an awful impression of themselves, and of the security industry in general.

So, the problem is very real, but what can be done about it?

Report every incidence you encounter to the Security Industry Authority via their website at:

https://www.services.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Pages/Report-Illegal-Activity.aspx

……..And keep reporting it until something is done!

There is no quick fix, and things will not change overnight, but the more reports that are made, the more licences that the SIA will revoke, and the more rogue trainers that will be prosecuted. Eventually, with a concerted effort, the public will be safer and the industry will start to receive the respect that decent Security Officers so rightly deserve.