Course Guidelines
The Highfield Level 2 Award for Security Officers in the Private Security Industry (Top-up) has been developed for learners who currently hold a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to work as a security officer and need to be brought up to date with the new licence-linked qualifications requirements.
What the Course Covers
Terror threats and the role of the security operative in the event of a threat
Minimising risk to personal safety
Actions to take in relation to global (or critical) incidents
Reserve your place now!
Course Breakdown
Unit 1: Principles of Terror Threat Awareness in the Private Security Industry
The official source of UK Threat Level is (MI5) and their website is https://www.mi5.gov.uk/threat-levels.
As well as knowing what each level means an operative would ideally need to know how it may impact the response level their location may have:
- LOW means an attack is highly unlikely
- MODERATE means an attack is possible, but not likely
- SUBSTANTIAL means an attack is likely
- SEVERE means an attack is highly likely
- CRITICAL means an attack is highly likely in the near future
Have an understanding of how UK threat level may impact the response level for the location in which you are working
- Awareness of attack planning phases
- Most current terrorist attack methodologies:
- Marauding Terror Attack (MTA), including firearms, knife, blunt objects, etc.
- Explosive device, including Improvised Explosive Device (IED), Person-Borne Improvised
Explosive Device (PBIED), Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), Leave Behind Improvised Explosive Device (LBIED)
- VAAW (Vehicle As A Weapon) also known as vehicle ramming
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN), including acid attacks.
- Cyber-attacks
- Insider threat
Understand the role security operatives have to play during a terror attack
- Understand what Run, Hide, Tell means for a security operative:
- keeping yourself safe and encouraging members of the public, who will look up to you, to follow you to a safe place
- Know and follow relevant procedure for your place of work, including the company’s evacuation plan within the limits of your own authority
- Use your knowledge of the location and making dynamic decisions based on available information to keep yourself and the public safe.
- Know the difference between evacuation and invacuation (lock down), including the pros and cons of both options:
- In both of these situations, the pros can very easily become cons. For example, evacuating a building due to fire tries to keep people safe but the con can be that people rush out and get injured or stand around outside which could result in accident.
Conversely, taking people into a building for safety due to a terrorist act on the street can mean that they are all grouped together and could be seen as an easy target for other forms of terrorist activities.
- Report incidents requiring immediate response from the police on 999
- Know what information emergency response require:
- What you have seen and what has happened.
- Who you saw, what they looked like, what they were wearing.
- Where did the situation happen and where you are.
- When did it happen
- Awareness of emergency services response time
- Reporting suspicious activity that does not need immediate response to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline
- Know who the public sector counter-terrorism experts are and how to access their information:
- Centre for the protection of national infrastructure (CPNI).
- National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO).
- Awareness of current initiatives:
- Run, hide, tell keeping themselves safe and encouraging members of the public, who will look up to a person wearing a yellow vest, to follow them to a safe place.
- ACT – Action Counter Terrorism
- SCaN – See, Check and notify
- The pros and cons of evacuation/invacuation
- Hot Principles:
- Hidden
- Obviously suspicious
- Typical
- Four Cs:
- Confirm
- Clear
- Communicate
- Control
- Safety distance, including:
- Distance v suspicious item size (small items: 100 m – large items or small vehicle: 200 m – large vehicle: 400 m)
- How to visually represent safety distance (e.g., football field)
- Difficulty involved in setting up a safety distances and not use radio/mobile phone within 15m
Suspicious activity is any observed behaviour that could indicate terrorism or terrorism related crime
- Hostile reconnaissance is the observing of people, places, vehicles and locations with the intention of gathering information to plan a hostile act
- Understand examples of what this might look like, including:
- Individuals taking particular interest in security measures, making unusual requests for information, testing security by breaching restricted areas, loitering, tampering with utilities
- Individuals avoiding security staff
- Individuals carrying out activities inconsistent with the nature of the building or area
- Individuals with forged, altered or stolen identity documents, documents in different names, with large amounts of cash, inappropriately dressed for season/location; taking photos or making drawings.
- Parked vehicles with people inside, empty parked vehicles left unattended for long period
- Multiple sightings of same suspicious person, vehicle, or activity
- Understands actions that can deter or disrupt hostile reconnaissance, including:
- Ensuring a visible presence of vigilant security staff; frequent patrols but at irregular intervals
- Maintaining organised search procedures
- Ensuring emergency exits are secured when not in use to prevent unauthorised entry
- Use your customer service skills to disrupt potential hostile reconnaissance
- Understand the importance of showing professional behaviour and visible security as a tool to deter hostile reconnaissance
- Know where to report suspicious behaviour including:
- Internal procedure for site
- Confidential (Anti-Terrorist) Hotline: 0800 789 321
- British Transport police (BTP) “See it, Say it, Sorted”: text 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40
- Non-emergency: 101
- ACT online reporting
- Life threatening emergency or requiring immediate response: 999
Unit 2: Principles of Minimising Personal Risk for Security Officers in the Private Security Industry
- Employer responsibilities:
- provision of assignment instruction
- importance of contractor responsibilities
- risk assessment
- training needs analysis
- provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential equipment
- application of current employment legislation
- provision of Health and Safety procedures and policies
- Employee responsibilities:
- follow assignment instructions
- identification of training needs
- attend appropriate training
- fit and well for work/duties
- use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential equipment
- follow company HR policies and procedures
- Lone working
- Interrupting a crime in progress
- Dealing with intoxicated individuals
- High risk locations (e.g., construction sites; remote and higher value site)
- Increased risk of escalation
- Places self and others at increased risk of violence and/or injury
- Risk of being considered negligent for any resultant harm
- Ensures a process of analysing risk and the best course of action prior to action, then during and after the incident
- Increases own ability to assess and react to the changing situations
- Good communication
- Keeping the control room / colleagues informed
- Working within the limits of own knowledge and skillset
- Prompt action
- Control measures including the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Keeping own knowledge and skills up to date via CPD
- Wearables:
- waterproof clothing
- high-visibility clothing
- headwear
- stab vests
- gloves (needle/slash resistant)
- rubber gloves and face shields
- ear defenders
- eye protection
- safety footwear
- dust mask
- face coverings
- Equipment:
- metal detectors
- body worn cameras (BWC)
- radios, mobile phones
- personal alarms
- torches
- equipment to help control infections
- Securing evidence against an offender
- Deterring crimes
- Self-protection
- Curbing behaviour (Security Officer or customer)
- Identifying offenders
- Awareness
- Using dynamic risk assessments
- Building rapport
- Active listening
- Using problem solving techniques
- Using CCTV
- Working in teams
- Knowing when to involve the emergency services
- Work within own training, skillset and physical capabilities
- Request assistance when appropriate
- Legal responsibility for actions and omissions
- Current legal framework and responsibilities
- Types of harm:
- Serious injury or death can result from:
- strikes and kicks
- an individual falling or being forced to ground
- interventions involving the neck, spine or vital organs
- restraint on the ground (face up and face down) or other position that impairs breathing and/or circulation and increases risk of death through positional asphyxia
- any forceful restraint can lead to medical complications, sudden death or permanent disability especially where situational and individual risk factors are present
- non-weapon items could cause harm to individual if they were to fall (e.g. glass objects, tools carried on person etc.)
- Serious injury or death can result from:
- Stress and emotional trauma
- Quick reaction time
- Awareness of potential hazards
- Accurate assessment of situation
- Increased potential to prevent escalation
- Clear identification of hazards and necessary actions to mitigate risk
- Improving safety of:
- self
- staff
- visitor/customer
- Learning from what went well and what could have been handled better
- Informing/identifying improvements to personal and organisational practices and procedures
- Preventing reoccurrence of the same/similar problem
- Recognising trends to prevent reoccurrence of the same/similar problems
- Importance of sharing good practice to improve personal, team and organisational performance
- Recognising good and poor practice
- Identifying common responses to situations
- Identifying procedures or methods to deal with situations effectively
Unit 2.1: Know what actions to take in relation to global (or critical) incidents
- Accessing the most up-to-date guidance from gov.uk
- Government guidance as it relates to global (or critical) incidents including:
- health & safety and organisational procedures
- venue Management e.g., queues, rules that impact socialising, venue access, personal protective equipment (PPE)
- equipment as it applies to the incident e.g., to help infection control
