At Intersec this year, there was one stand which drew particular attention, and had a real buzz about it. It belonged to The Professional Security and Safety Alliance (PSSA). The recently-formed organisation is headed up by impressive individuals, who have contributed significantly to the security sector either from a policing or private perspective. It aims to bring the global security industry together to raise standards, particularly in the area of security guard training and licensing. I was excited to be invited to one of its five revolutionary SIRA-approved training centres to find out more about the alliance, what it does and what its aims are.
What I am initially struck by, as the red carpet is rolled out for me (figuratively speaking) when I arrive, is the high sense of pride from all involved, who know they are doing things differently, offering real opportunities for trainees who might otherwise leave the industry after a couple of years. Despite being highly qualified security professionals in the public or private spheres, they feel so passionately that some give up their time on a voluntary basis.
The centre offers City and Guilds-level professional training courses, lasting up to five days for the Security Management course. The courses teach students the fundamentals of security guarding, management and other skills, including basic lifesaving skills and first aid, basic firefighting skills, surveillance, risk assessments, evidence retrieval and preservation. They are also put through their paces in rigorous fitness tests. The alliance works alongside the police in Dubai and across the UAE – this is something of a departure from how things have operated in previous years, when the security industry and the police were distinctly separate.
Part of the reason for this change is that the police are increasingly understanding the distinct but important role of private security professionals. As Omer Ahmed, Internal Relations Support Officer and ex-Police Officer, puts it: “There used to be a gap between security and the police, especially considering the rapid advancements in technology. Therefore, efforts have been made to bridge this gap and reinforce their role as first responders, as they are often the first to arrive at the scene due to their proximity, quick response time, and ability to assess and manage initial security threats before law enforcement arrives. The courses are designed in mind of the fact that there will be collaboration, such as with evidence collection and preservation, and maintaining and preserving the scene until the police arrive.”
As we walk around the well-presented facility, we visit the classrooms and chat to the students who seemed relaxed and enthusiastic about learning. The trainers also spoke positively to the classes, and it was obvious they too were proud to be involved with helping people establish new careers in security. Something else I note is how attentive and happy all the staff are in their roles, from the security team on the gate right through to those on duty in the building itself.
As well as getting to grips with the day-to-day training offered by the centre, which we will detail in a further piece, I sat down with Liz Jajal, Training and Awareness Officer at PSSA, about the ethos of the organisation and about its aims and aspirations of the alliance.
In terms of its ethos, the big theme is to create long-lasting and stable careers for the security professionals it trains, and not just jobs. Jajal says that one of the key goals is “to use training and licensing to ensure that security guards are better-respected”. She says: “If you want to attract the best people you need to offer a way ahead, or a career path with progression, otherwise you’ll never get people dedicated to one industry. They will leave and try something else. So, we want to create something so that people want to stay.”
To further enhance the offer to new recruits into training, PSSA offers local advantages, like a Fazaa card that will help people locally in the region, as well as discounts for medicine and insurance. “This is quite sizable, so anyone can go and have a health check if they’re a member, with that discount, which many people cannot afford out here.”
“But apart from that, the main thing is that we will give them access to a lot of education programs for their self-improvement and growth, as that will help build confidence in our members,” she adds.
It’s also important to note that, because of the fact that the PSSA welcomes students from all over the globe, the alliance will have a global reach and influence. There are attendees from Africa, and Asia, as well as other parts of the world.
In terms of its ambitions for the organisation’s growth, though there no fixed targets, Jajal says “30,000 is a conservative estimate for the year”. It currently has 3,000 security guards and other professionals on its books. “I can say this because just this centre will register maybe 8,000 to 10,000 people,” she says.
To help boost that further, Jajal is encouraging top-level management to get involved with the alliance. “We have to focus on getting those at the top of corporations – executives and senior level managers on board as they will have plenty to contribute and help to support our aims. And we have to keep focusing on shows and events like Intersec and others, as that will help to grow the organisation too,” she says.
To finish off the tour of the training centre, I caught up with PSSA General Secretary, Brian Tarpey and we discussed how far the alliance has come in the time it’s been around.
Tarpey notes that he is proud of the alliance’s achievements, in such a short space of time, and that a lot of credit goes down to everybody on the committee. “As you know, there’s a wide spread of experience, not just in the security field, but as we’ve heard, in training and lots of other different disciplines, and we’ve been put together. All this has helped to drive us on to the point where we are today.”
Tarpey reiterates that though there are no fixed growth targets for membership, “we’ve got the drive and the determination to reach out globally, and therefore numbers are unlimited,” he says.
“There are many advantages to being a member of PSSA, and really it kind of works cyclically as well,” he concludes, “because the more members we attract, the more members that we have, and the stronger we will be as an alliance. It’s also a good time to join, but as Liz said, we need to appeal also to managers and senior managers and CEOs, because without their buy-in it makes it more difficult for the people who are lower down the chain. So, my appeal would be to the middle management and senior management to look at this as favourable.”
For more recent security news, click here
