Supporting role or star?

Ours is an ever-changing world and we have to change with it – like it or not! It is much the same with the security industry ... we have to roll with the blows, come up smiling and make hay whilst the sun shines, if you see what I mean.

It 's the same with the inspectorates ... we also have to change to adapt to new demands and rules and sometimes we are very loathe to change our old tried and tested ways.

We all claim to be our own masters, and that no one tells us what to do, yet we all have to dance to someone else's tune. The installer dances to the tune of both the customer and the inspec-torate, even if they often are playing two very different tunes at the same time.

The customer is playing the top ten hit "How cheap can you fit it?" whilst the inspectorate is looking for the full orchestral version of "Compliance to standards and quality". It' s often very difficult to satisfy both at the same time but it has to be done, even if it means telling the customer they have to have their requested pop song played by a full orchestra complete with a 20-voice choir. It's a bit like having the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra play selections from Dolly Parton's greatest hits.

Take comfort, you are not on your own. The inspectorates also have to dance to the tune of others. In some respects it is worse because they now have three tunes to dance to – played by that well known jazz trio ACPO, INSURANCE and UKAS. Not so bad because they all sing a common tune, but the improvisations and variations are wide ranging. The danger is when the individual musician goes so far out on a limb that the others lose track of him, and this has happened in many a modern jazz combo.

   We're all dancing!
I know many people cannot see or agree with the aims and intents of the police, the insurance companies and UKAS, but they too dance to the tune of another.

The Public and the politicians call the tune for the police but we (the installers) make it difficult by stepping up the tempo (the false alarm rate) and the politicians by pawning their dancing shoes (shortage of funds).

The insurance companies dance to the tune of shareholders, premiums, payouts and risks. The risk being the big factor they cannot always control.

UKAS have only one tune to listen to, but it is a very obscure and complicated marching tune of rules and regulations played by the DTI Brass Band, who are, like many of our big national Brass Bands, sponsored by their owners, the government.

So the stage is set and you the installers have a leading role in the musical "Life and Reality" written by others. The backdrop of the set is a waterfall where rules, regulations and instructions come cascading down from the top to land at your feet, your part in the musical is to live your life, do your job and send evidence and proofs that you are working to the rules made back up the waterfall by means of a bucket chain of installer – inspectorate – police – insurance – UKAS – DTI and government.

No one said it was going to be simple
To go back to being serious, life for the security industry is a matter of providing proofs and evidence and of course covering your back against the claims and mal-practice of others. Many of the small installers find this too much to be bothered with but, in walking away from the proofs and realities, they are leaving themselves wide open and vulnerable. More to the point, they are walking away from some of the best selling points they could possibly have Let's start at the beginning: Are you the right kind of person to be in the security industry? Are you decent and honest without a stain on your character and, more to the point, can you prove it? For this reason many years ago NACOSS adopted a code of practice for the screening of people in our industry. This has now been developed into BS 7858 and become the national screening standard for our (and many other) industries. This means that an individual has to be able to prove what employment he has had for the last ten years. Not only that, it has to be an unbroken history with no gaps in it.

One theory is that if you can prove an unbroken work history then it proves that you have not spent time in the jug for theft or pillage or anything else. You also have to provide evidence to prove who you are and where you live and get references from other good and true people. On top of that, ACPO require you to get yourself checked out on the Police National Computer to prove that the police have no records held on you. The inspectorates have to audit or to verify this information and gather proofs that your company is screening correctly. UKAS then check the inspectorates to ensure that they are checking the installers fully and correctly.

From the installer's point of view this is usually a pain in the butt, but, just think of the selling advantage this gives you over those who are unscreened, You can now prove your credibility – can they? And do you want to know the real crime on screening? The customer has usually no idea that it exists. After you have explained it properly to the customer there should be no question of them looking at a non-screened company.

It is the biggest single selling point missed by the widest range of companies trying to sell security – daft isn't it?

What about company stability? This comes firstly from the insurance companies but it has been "built in" to the UKAS sector scheme, aimed at the protection of the customer. For this a company has to prove that it is financially viable to ensure that the customer's system will be supported by 24hr service cover this year, next year and the year after that. The installer also has to prove that they have sufficient men, machines and tools to cope with any emergencies.

Once again the inspectorates have to gather evidence to prove these points and UKAS checks them out. Once again this is a very good selling point that precious few installer seem to bother to include in their sales pitch.

The customer has no idea that screening exists … but after you have explained it there should be no question of them looking at a non-screened company

Records under lock and key
Management capability is another factor that the inspectorates have to look for, and for UKAS to check and for the installer to use as a selling point – which often gets left out.

The comfort factor for the customer is that their security records are safe under lock and key and will not be left around for all to see or divulged to some telesales company so that you will be pestered from now until doomsday by people trying to sell you time shares etc.

There is also the comfort that the company is well organised and not going to forget to service your system or to repair it after a temporary disconnection.

This leaves the inspectorates with a problem, there is only one standard for management and that is ISO 9000, (the Quality Assured standard).

For a larger company the QA standard provides a yardstick for management (like BS4737 provides a yardstick for installations) against which an inspectorate can measure a company's management capability. But, for the smaller installer this is a big and possibly top-heavy standard and not always appropriate, so a compromise was reached.

Manual makes you think To comply with the UKAS requirements a small company is now expected to write down just how they propose to run their business in a very simplified control manual. This is in fact a very much scaled down version of the QA manual.

The inspectorate will first check that the control manual contains all the basic requirements of running a business and complies with the UKAS and BS4737 requirements, after that the inspectorate will inspect the company against their own manual.

For the installer this has an unexpected side effect, it makes them stop and think just how they run their companies ... and there have been some very surprised installers. It can be truly amazing just how much money is lost by not getting the paperwork right, and by that I mean simple and effective, not heavy and cumbersome.

The first place this comes to light is in the selling and surveying department ... When they finally see just how they are walking away from a sale every day of their lives they do some serious re-thinking.

When they see how much servicing and maintenance revenue is being lost by being badly organised then some more serious thinking is called for.

One thing I have seen many times during my career as an inspector, and that is once a company has seen a better way to do things they very rarely go back to the old non-profitable ways, and this is what being inspected can offer you – but you have to see it for yourself.

There is another aspect to consider – all those forms, specifications, handover checklists and job sheets have an underlying aim, it is not just to prove yourself to an inspector, it is to cover you against claims, non-payment of bills and general loss of business. One thing is certain, if you don't cover your backside, sooner or later someone is going to give it a right good kicking, and you'll only have yourself to blame.

The whole idea of inspection and verification, plus the UKAS and ACPO rules and the insurance requirements is to protect the end user against companies that are incapable and uncaring and prone to disappearing up their own jacksie in a puff of blue smoke like that famous bird in the old joke (I won't repeat it now).