|
Keeping your property safe –
A way to save dollars and present a positive image
We have all gone someplace and thought, “What a mess” or “How about fixing the place up a bit”. In today’s fast paced environment, we are always rushing here or there and rarely ever take the time to do the little things that present a sharp image and safe environment for our organization or home.
When we have guests over, everyone hurries around to clean the house and cut the lawn to make a good impression, but do we ever think about potential mishaps that could occur? Accidents in the home can cost you money and in some cases friendships if someone gets hurt.
The same can be said for the business world as well. We take for granted that our employees know the lay of the land and how to get around, but we never think about the visitor that might stop in to visit an employee or a service person needing to stop by for a work order.
With this in mind, here are a few things to remember when inviting people into our homes and businesses. Remember, a well kept secure environment is a safe environment.
- Make sure if you utilize area rugs that it has a non-skid backing. Area rugs that do not have a non-skid backing can slide and create a slip and fall environment.
- Make sure the lighting in your driveway, parking lot, and stairwells are always in proper working order and well lit. Dim and dark areas create unsafe environments and present an image of poor management of your property. Replace burned out bulbs immediately.
- Install, fix, or replace loose or missing handrails and railings. People tend to think about this as “no big deal”, however, most people use handrails to help balance or assist themselves in walking. Not having them or if they are loose could present a potential hazard.
- Make sure that entry areas and walkways are always clean, dry, and clutter free. Just because you can navigate through the area does not mean the next person may be able to do so.
 Post signage where potential challenges or safety issues may occur, to alert everyone that they need to take caution in this area.- When planning to have an event, take the time to walk the event areas and make sure it is safe and secure for everyone.
These little tips can help you avoid bigger challenges while presenting a very secure, professional and impressive image of your home or business.
Article written by: Timothy D. Smith, Director of Customer Relations & Purchasing
Team Work
Teamwork is a group of people working together to achieve a goal. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it doesn’t just happen. It must be a deliberate effort. Teamwork benefits everyone; the company, the client and the employees. Each Per Mar Security Services employee should be aware of not only his, or her, own assignment; but of other officers at the facility. Should something appear to have been forgotten, a friendly and tactful reminder can prevent a problem for the officer, his supervisor and the client. Also, something missed or done incorrectly probably will have repercussions for everyone on the Team. Rather than taking offense or becoming defensive, the person being reminded should endeavor to accept the reminder in the spirit in which it was offered; even if the reminder is incorrect or not necessary. It is better to say something and be wrong than to keep quiet and let something go wrong. We should all encourage this attitude and be watchful to ensure that such actions are truly offered and accepted in the spirit of cooperation. The proper attitude will keep small problems small and in-house. Remember, the next time it may be you who needs help!
Article written by: Nancy Hall, Physical Security General Manager
TSA Missing Mandatory Deadlines for Mass Transit and Passenger Rail Security Regulations
The Transportation Security Administration failed to implement several provisions under the 9/11 Commission Act on mass transit and passenger rail security regulations, according to the Government Accountability Office. TSA missed its deadline for issuing regulations concerning mass transit and passenger rail employee security training and requiring high-risk rail carriers to develop and execute security plans. TSA admitted to having difficulty meeting the deadlines, citing the need to coordinate the requirements with various entities and the lack of resources for completing the tasks. "Until TSA develops a plan with milestones, it will be difficult for TSA to provide reasonable assurance that the act's provisions are being implemented and that a plan is in place for overcoming challenges that arise," said Cathleen A. Berrick, GAO's managing director for homeland security and justice issues. "We recognize the inherent challenges to securing these systems given the continuing terrorist threat, openness of the system, and difficulties posed by attempting to secure and patrol numerous points of entry," she added. "However, given the criticality of mass transit and passenger rail systems to our way of life and the economy, and the inherent risks to them, TSA should continue to strive to strengthen its security efforts for the systems."
Source: The Government Accountability Office
Identifying Elements that Affect Performance
 If you’ve ever wondered if your security officers are working to the best of their abilities at all times you can probably answer that with a simple no. It seems there are always little things that seem to chip away at performance without anyone ever noticing. This article will help you identify several key elements that may be affecting their performance.
Work Area Design
Review the space, light, heat, and noise in the area of the officer's station to see if there are any areas that might need improvement. This can range from distracting noises at the workstation, to a lobby that is overheated, to the lights being a bit too dim for the officer to properly read or write a report.
Tasks Performed
Review all of the tasks the officer performs to ensure they make sense for the position and allow the officer to succeed. If there are mundane or tedious tasks that don’t need to be completed perhaps there is a better way to do them.
Equipment Operated
Review all of the equipment the officer uses to ensure it is in good working order. Repair or replace defective equipment as needed.
Visual Acuity
See if the officer has effective sight lines to provide adequate surveillance of the area. Correcting this could be as simple as pruning overgrown trees or shrubs in the area.
Detection, Identification, and Recognition
Review all the events that occur that are expected on a daily basis. In this review, determine how a new officer handles these events and how an experienced officer handles them. Modify the response if lapses occur in order to improve vigilance and detection capabilities. Additionally, review the officer’s ability to detect an abnormal event and respond in the manner indicated in the post orders.
Training
Audit the site specific training program to ensure it accurately covers the necessary information a new officer on the site needs to know. Recommend adding to the program if there are items not currently being covered at all or thoroughly enough.
Workplace Environment
Determine if officers on site are receiving instructions from just one individual or from multiple departments. If the officers are receiving contradictory information it could cause a problem. It is usually better to have instructions coming to the officers from a single source if possible to avoid having any miscommunication.
Morale
Review how the officers are treated by their peers as well as employees at the site. Do they feel good about themselves and what they are doing? If they do not it could lead to some issues. Correcting this could take some time and effort as well.
These are just a few brief ways for you to begin to fine tune your security officer program. Sometimes these elements are easy to detect and easy to correct. Other times these elements could involve changing the culture of the department or company or require financial commitments. Either way, by identifying what issues are affecting performance at your site you can begin to do something about it.
Article by: Colin Vick, Physical Security Division
Source: Protection of Assets Manual
Aging Population Leads to Innovative Security Solutions
 With the aging population and the large balloon of Baby Boomers who will be entering their senior years, the security industry is looking into innovative products to help provide safety and communication with our elderly population. More information will come in future articles in this newsletter but for now we can take a look at the enormity of the issue facing this industry by looking at aging data and trends.
Click here to read Aging Services: The Facts
Article written by Kevin Lloyd, General Manager, Electronic Security
Source: American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging www.aahsa.org
Per Mar Security Services Delivers World Record Service
 The Per Mar Physical Security Madison Branch found itself in an unusual position while providing security at Rhythm & Booms Celebration at Warner Park on Saturday June 27th. As the official security provider for this event we were also requested to provide crowd control for the Mascot & Celebrity Charity Hug event sponsored by the innovative program R.E.A.C.H. a Child. One of the celebrity contestants, Miss Wisconsin, required someone to hold and safeguard her sash during the hour long event. She selected Per Mar Special Events employee Jake Mittelstedt to accomplish this task.
During the course of the event the Per Mar employees became involved in the setting of a New Guinness World Record with 8,916 simultaneous hugs in one hour. The previous record was 765 hugs in one hour.
 In addition to providing a fun community event , the Mascot & Celebrity Hug helped raise support, program awareness, and funding for "With Wings and a Halo - R.E.A.C.H. a Child" for local crime prevention programs and Rhythm and Booms. The mission of "With Wings and a Halo - R.E.A.C.H. a Child (Reading Enjoyment Affects Childhood Happiness)” is to put a smile on the face of a child in the time of need. This is accomplished by reaching out to children at the scene of an emergency or crisis through Law Enforcement and other first responders that directly deal with children in these situations.
Article by Douglas Glamann, Physical Security Operations Manager
Net attacks triple in 2 years
Cyberattacks on federal computer systems have increased by more than 250 percent over the last two years, according to data provided by the Homeland Security Department. Experts say a few fundamental management changes; centralized management of information technology systems, better education and training, and tougher access control could prevent many of the most common attacks. The fastest-growing category of identified attacks, according to US-CERT, is classified as “improper usage” copying sensitive files to a home computer, for example, or logging onto a secure government Web site from an insecure device such as a mobile phone. Agencies reported just 637 of these incidents in 2006; by 2008, that figure had jumped to 3,762, a 490 percent increase. “Malicious code” attacks, worms, viruses, and Trojan horses are up about 50 percent; agencies reported 2,274 of them in 2008. Those are often caused by users installing infected software or clicking links to Web pages that install malicious codes.
Source: The Federal Times
Letter of Appreciation
 This is an excerpt from an e-mail sent to Loren Noska, University Police Captain in Iowa City, by Dave Ricketts, UI Parking and Transportation.
Chuck, Larry and Loren, I wanted to thank each of you for supporting Parking and Transportation last week in our efforts to respond to the RR Crossing closing at Finkbine. It was a challenging time for us. To keep service frequency nearly the same in spite of the added distance, we added additional buses and ran 24/7 for the week. Nearly 1,000 bus departures were redirected through the intersection of Melrose Ave. and Finkbine Rd. during the week. That’s 1,000 each way. Without traffic control it would not have worked during the peak times. We have nearly 2,000 permits assigned to the lot, though the time of year helped and we never quite filled it up all week.
In response to your concerns about traffic backups, I had the Iowa City traffic engineer observe the intersection during the Tuesday morning rush and offer suggestions. He felt it worked very well. I hope you had a similar impression.
I do not know how to contact the four or five individuals from Per Mar who actually did the work, but I spoke with them several times during the week when they were on site. They were very helpful and cooperative. Tuesday was particularly unpleasant for them with the rain. Could you relay to them how much we appreciated their efforts? It could not have worked without them. I mean that literally. It would not have worked.
We have received several compliments from patrons (including the UIHC) on how we handled the challenge. That alone is remarkable since most people in this kind of situation normally tend to notice only the inconvenience. I wanted both of you to know how much your support mattered. Thank you.
Smoke Detector Maintenance
Residential fire deaths have decreased steadily as the number of homes with smoke  detectors increased. Reports from the National Fire Protection Association on residential fire deaths show that people have nearly a 40-50 percent better chance of surviving a fire if their home has the recommended number of smoke detectors.
The average sized home or apartment needs more than one smoke detector. The exact number depends on the number of levels in the home and the number of bedrooms. National fire safety standards recommend a minimum of one detector on each level of the home, one detector outside the bedroom area, and one in each bedroom. The detector that is placed outside of the bedroom area should be installed near enough to be heard at night through a closed bedroom door.
Don’t forget to test the smoke detectors. Every smoke detector comes with a test button. We recommend that people test their detectors regularly, at least once a month. If your smoke detector is connected to a monitored alarm system make sure to contact your Central Station and advise them you are testing your system before pressing the test button.
Cleaning smoke detectors is important and easy. Just vacuum the detector once a month. This will keep the openings to the sensing chamber free of dust, residue from cooking vapors and insects. It is recommended you contact your Central Station before cleaning a detector in case you accidentally set the detector off.
Smoke detectors that are 10 years old are near the end of their service life and should be replaced. A smoke detector constantly monitors the air 24 hours a day. At the end of 10 years, it has gone through more than 3.5 million monitoring cycles. After this much use, components may become less reliable. This means that as the detector gets older, the potential of failure increases. Replacing them after 10 years reduces this possibility.
Article written by: Kevin Link, Manager Technical Services
Source: International Association of Fire Chiefs
|