The Demands of Security Management in the Transport Industry

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06 April 2022

As the country recovers from COVID and transport infrastructure projects such as HS2 and road networks are expanding, demand for providing security to the transport sector is increasing.

Jason Pope from Expeditious Services explains the main considerations when managing security within the transport industry.

 

Picture: a photograph of Jason Pope. Image Credit: Expeditious Services 

 

Jason has worked for Expeditious Services since 2015, as Group Operations Director, and has been Service Excellence Director since 2018. His background encompasses a six-year employment in the British Army, leading to beginning work in the security industry in 2008. Throughout his career, Jason has held roles such as security contracts manager and national account manager.  At Expeditious Services, Jason is responsible for the success of UK operational delivery and building solid relationships with clients for high achieving results.

 

Manned Security at Transport Sites

 

Generally, working on these sites presents higher risks and potentially lethal dangers due to the nature of the rail side environment, cost of assets, and the size of the sites. This presents a significant number of challenges to a business requiring security, and demands a specialist set of security skills to ensure the best possible protection for all on these sites.

Expeditious Services has experience in this industry following the award of a £1.3 million contract within the transport industry. Through this outsourced contract, we work across seven sites, employing a team totalling circa. 50 people. Following consultations throughout our contract term so far, our work has recently expanded to include technical security, such as CCTV towers, to support patrolling and visibility due to the size of the sites.

These are just some of the considerations which should be given when managing a security provision on a transportation site:

 

Visible Deterrents

 

A standard security provision on a transportation site is primarily about controlling safe ingress/egress and delivering a visible deterrent. These are often large sites that require regular foot patrols and in some instances the use of a liveried vehicle that helps to provide an enhanced visual impact needed to deter potential threats, as well as allowing security officers to cover more ground more quickly and deliver an immediate incident response in case of an emergency.

 

Specialist Training

 

Additional training is needed by all security officers to understand the heightened dangers and demands of transportation sites. For example, Personal Track Safety (PTS) (for railways) and Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) training help implement stringently monitored programs that promote best industry practice, especially as the demands of transport sites can change very quickly.

Inductions, onboarding, and training when recruiting new employees is absolutely critical for their engagement and implementation of these safety measures. Pressing the importance of these specialist demands, and how their actions affect all other employees is necessary from day one.

 

 

Health & Safety

 

On such high-risk sites, serious incidents, injuries, and potentially life-threatening damage may occur due to the high-risk environment. Due to these factors a higher level of health and safety compliance should be followed. On sites we manage, our officers follow strict codes of conduct for road and pedestrian safety for travelling around the sites, mobile phone usage, chemical incidents, PPE, and manoeuvring around dangerous areas where machinery is used. Adhering to, monitoring and reporting these are means to keep everyone safe from unnecessary harm. Regular assessments, in line with HSE recommendations, should be conducted to ensure continual compliance, and changing demands are being met.

 

Fatigue Management in Transport

 

Sites within the transport industry are likely to have a “Fatigue Management Policy”. Fatigue management can have very serious implications in the transport industry, if not effectively managed. For example, compliance to the “Rail Fatigue Management Policy” dictates shifts be no longer than 13 hours door-to-door, ensuring officers arrive no earlier than 10 minutes and leave no later than 10 minutes after their scheduled shift times.

Our Critical Control Helpdesk and 24/7/365 scheduling team proactively handle all rota and patrol management. We also create pools of dedicated relief staff for each transport site we manage. These teams cover shifts in the case of illness or other absence, without needing to rely on the teams in the standard shift patterns. This ensures fatigue management is consistently and effectively monitored, minimising the risk of any incidents due to an overworked officer.

Picture: a photograph of two people boarding a train, carrying rucksacks on their backs.  Image Credit: Pexels

Article written by Jason Pope | Published 06 April 2022

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