The organisation's powers-that-be are also planning two pilot schemes for third party certification of integrated management systems and – working alongside the police – an accreditation scheme of approved organisations qualified to carry out fraud investigations.
Even though he is standing down as chief executive of the NSI this month, Dr David Holt is proud of the fact that the organisation is continuing to push back the boundaries with initiatives like these. He also firmly believes that his successor in the chair – Tom Mullarkey– must be given the earliest possible opportunity to build long-standing relationships with key industry figures including the Security Industry Authority's (SIA) chairman (Molly Meacher) and the new chief executive (John Saunders). Talking exclusively to Security Management Today, Holt (pictured below, left, with NSI compatriot Ian Sanderson) said: "It's important that the NSI build a productive rapport for the future with organisations like the SIA. A new era is looming for security."
Working with the police
That 'new era' involves the private security industry working far more closely with the police service. "In truth," added Holt, "the Police Reform Bill is probably of greater significance to our industry than the Private Security Industry Act. We are now going to see major changes in working practices, and the ways in which businesses are structured. I suspect that, in the end, the police will take control of manned security services, private investigators and the 'night economy' of door supervisors."
Holt feels there is a clear Home Office strategy at work, and that it's no accident that the Private Security Industry Act immediately preceded the Police Reform Bill. "That's the reason we formed the NSI," said Holt. "We recognised that the Act and the Bill would cover a broad spectrum of the industry. If we want to work with the police – and we are increasingly going to have to do so – then we'll want to be able to offer a 'one stop' range of services.
Having brought electronic security systems and manned services together, this gives us a base from which to expand into other areas."
Hence the NSI's launch this coming summer of a new certification scheme covering the design, installation, commissioning and servicing of fire detection and suppression systems. Developed in conjunction with the British Approvals Board for Fire Equipment (BAFE), it will allow fire protection companies to become Third Party-certificated and BAFE-listed. Run by the NSI, the scheme will have United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accreditation for product certification (EN 45011).
As stated, another area for the NSI to expand into is that of tackling company fraud. Companies reporting fraud to the police have experienced great difficulty in ensuring that the police service conducts an investigation. In this light, partnerships are accepted as the best way forward.
The plan at the moment is for the NSI to act as the accreditation agency for a pilot scheme whereby approved organisations such as forensic accounting firms, private investigation agencies and in-house company security staff carry out fraud investigations.
In practice, these organisations will work alongside the police and under the supervision of a nominated police investigator to look into suspected cases of fraud.
The NSI is also assessing the opportunities and requirements for Third Party certification of integrated management systems, which it defines as comprising environmental management, health and safety and security. According to David Holt, larger facilities management providers are also looking for a 'one stop' certification service such that they might avoid duplication of this process when bringing such systems together.
A time of great debate
Looking back on his arrival at NACOSS, which he joined from the aviation sector, David Holt reflects on what was a 'turbulent' spell. This included a raging industry debate at the time over the merits of the BS 5750 quality assurance standard. "In those days, a policy decision had been taken by NACOSS without us fully understanding its implications, either for ourselves or individual firms," added Holt.
"I don't think NACOSS fully understood what it was getting into, or that the consultants advising the installation firms knew what it was all about."
Holt suggests that, at the time, everyone was on a steep learning curve, and there was much unhappiness in the air. "Ten years on, though," stressed Holt, "I think that the majority of firms would now be very positive about quality management, and state that it's good for their business."
The SSAIB in focus
The debate about quality management systems continues, however, with rival inspectorate the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) contrasting its stance on the issue with that of the NSI. The SSAIB has just gained its accreditation by UKAS as a quality management systems certification body, as well as accreditation of its product certification scheme.
SSAIB chief executive Geoff Tate told SMT that, having put its own accreditations on the same footing as those of the NSI, it's now embarking on a "hearts-and-minds campaign" to attract new members, and win more business for them.
David Holt isn't phased by such moves. "We don't have any problem with what the SSAIB is doing," he said. "Effectively, they're now saying we had it right all along, despite what they may have stated over the years. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. They're still not quite there yet, though."
Holt continued: "As we've said consistently, right from the outset, a quality management system on its own simply says you have a management system in place that's consistent. If it's not delivering consistently high quality then it's worthless. You have to add more than just the quality management system, which is what we've been doing for the past decade. In other words, you need a quality schedule which guarantees that the quality management system delivers those high standards. It's far more difficult to make that work, of course, but we'll continue to promote the fact that what we do is different. Collecting badges is neither here nor there."
Sectoral scheme for alarms
Related to all of this is the introduction of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)/Association of British Insurers (ABI) sectoral scheme tailored to the alarms industry. It stems from an ACPO decision that the alarm inspectorates should be subject to some external standard or inspection process, such that the police service is not involved as 'judge and jury'.
David Holt believes that ACPO was ill-advised by UKAS, and that UKAS is not the most appropriate body to manage the inspectorates.
In truth, the Police Reform Bill is probably of greater significance to our industry than the Private Security Industry Act. We are now going to see major changes in working practices, and the ways in which businesses are structured. I suspect that, in th
Explaining the situation, Holt quotes from a document on sector schemes issued by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) – a body that brings together the national accreditation bodies of most industrial countries around the world. The document states that IAF policy is to base all of its operations on 'normative documents which have been developed through a consensus process involving participation by a number of eligible/qualified parties'.
"UKAS doesn't work to its own rules and regulations," continued Holt. "The only people consulted by UKAS were representatives from ACPO. Did they talk to inspectorates, trade associations, insurers, end users, specifiers or Government? After we protested they did involve the ABI. That was an improvement, but the situation is far from ideal. It really is a shame that the ultimate regulatory body we have is behaving in this way."
Holt is quick to point out that UKAS doesn't have proper disciplinary control over the certification bodies, and that the NSI has yet to receive a response to several complaints it has made to UKAS over the past 18 months.
"If something is an inconvenience to them they simply ignore it," said Holt. "If we were set up in the same way as UKAS we wouldn't be accredited. This situation is a real pity, because the UKAS assessors we deal with do a terrific, professional job. It's the organisation itself that's letting them down."
Meanwhile, the NSI's ICON scheme (introduced last year to focus on the needs of the smaller and newer installers looking for a simple inspection scheme) is normally recognised by insurers for both domestic and low risk commercial premises.
According to Holt, the scheme has just 12 members at present. However, he countered: "Another 30 are in the pipeline. We've only been running this scheme for a few months. It's early days yet."
Successes of the times
Asked as to how he considers both NACOSS and the NSI might measure their overall success, David Holt replies that statistics held over the past decade measure such variables as the average technical grading of installations, the numbers and types of non-compliances raised with the quality system and the numbers of complaints from the general public and police alike.
"All of the figures we have are pointing in the right direction," said a bullish Holt.
Holt retains some misgivings about the ease of entry for companies in both the electronic and manned guarding sides of the industry, as well as the continuing emphasis on price rather than value and quality. In the longer term he hopes that, when legislation begins to bite, such issues will improve" (Holt refers here, of course, to the National Minimum Wage, the European Working Time Directive, the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act and the general raft of health and safety legislation that's cropping up).
Private sector licensing
On the subject of private sector licensing, Holt's major concern centres on the voluntary inspected companies scheme. If the SIA sets a standard for the scheme which is too low, the industry could face a confusing situation.
"We don't want to end up with a two-tier system, or a situation where there are multiple levels of approval," said Holt.
"There's an analogy to be made here with a vehicle MOT standard. The fact that a percentage of people don't want – or claim they cannot afford – to meet that standard should be irrelevant. The standard is the standard. I'd be very worried if such a situation arose within the security industry."
As the first chairman of the Joint Security Industry Council (JSIC), Holt is obviously proud of that organisation's achievements – particularly in recent times.
"We were fortunate that people of the calibre of chief executive Mike Welply, Rob Heiser and Mike Smallwood were willing to put time and effort into the organisation. JSIC's Annual Forum is now highly regarded in the industry."
Holt states that the initiative he's been most pleased with during his tenure at NACOSS and the NSI was the introduction of a regional structure at NACOSS.
Finding that face-to-face communications were becoming increasingly difficult as more installers joined, the body divided itself into ten geographic areas that have since flourished.
Source
SMT
Postscript
Security Management Today would like to thank Dr David Holt for his invaluable assistance with this article.
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