Welcome to our November 2019 newsletter.

In our May newsletter I opened with commentary on the tragic events that occurred in Christchurch on the 15th March and referred specifically that our “she’ll be right” attitude towards security left us vulnerable to some form of attack and that it was only a matter of time before terrorism found its way to New Zealand.

I also commented that the challenge for government, and other parties such as the security industry, is how to create a more risk aware society where security becomes an important consideration across our every-day lives, but without significantly impeding the social freedoms that New Zealanders enjoy and value.

I recently attended a high profile government-hosted event held at our national museum, Te Papa, and attended by a number of Government Ministers, Ambassadors and senior ranking officials from New Zealand and Pacific defence agencies.

From what I observed there was no form of identity check, bags were not screened or searched and attendees were unescorted whilst on site, yet this was an event that even the most basic risk assessment would have identified as being of significant risk.

Unfortunately, those who we would expect to lead by example, and the staff who work for them, are often negligent in their own knowledge of security awareness and it is my concern that it will only be a matter of time before we experience another terrorism-related tragedy.

For more details please see our website news

Clarification re Licensing for Electricians

The Registrar for the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority (PSPLA) has provided a guideline document for electricians in relation to registering with the PSPLA. This has been a contentious area for a long time and we applaud the Registrar for documenting what is considered best practice. A copy of the guidelines follows my report.

International Security Officer Day

International Security Officer Day developed from a concept originally launched in Singapore in 2014 and has now grown to be widely accepted around the world as an opportunity to recognise those who are in the front line of the provision of security services, and go about their roles quietly, effectively and with minimal recognition.

International Security Officer Day is recognised on the 24th July (24/7) each year and acknowledges that for 24 hours, 7 days a week, security officers are at work and ensuring it is secure for us all to be free from fear and interference.

The NZSA is very supportive of this initiative and will work with the NZ Security Magazine, our members and other stakeholders (including customers) to promote the day and increase society awareness of the great work performed by our Security Officers.

We will provide more information on this over coming months.

NZSA AGM

The NZSA AGM was held on the 26th September in conjunction with the Facilities Integrate exhibition at the ASB Showgrounds.

At the meeting we farewelled James Sutherland from the Board following nine years of service and welcomed the re-appointment of David Proud, VIP Security and the election of Caroline Halton, Cityguard.

It was pleasing to see unanimous support for changes put forward to the NZSA Rules and the adoption of the Annual Report. The rule changes will enable future restructuring of the Board and the potential to appoint an independent Chairperson and Board members should it be deemed appropriate.

The annual Report provides an update on the financial performance of the association and a chance to comment on achievements over the last twelve months. My report within the Annual Report follows:

Annual Report 2019 – message from CEO

I’m pleased to report that the last twelve months have been a period of delivery for the NZSA. Not just in stabilising the financial position of the association but also in achieving tangible gains in a number of areas including industry licensing, training and resourcing.

In my report last year, I referred to a number of shorter-term initiatives that had been implemented such as the office relocation, down-sizing of our support structure and the sale of our Training division. These have all been successfully implemented and have contributed significantly to a reported surplus of $118,892 for the year against a budget of $75,000 and a deficit last year of $62,918 (including a one-off cost of $50,000 associated with exiting our term lease in Takapuna).

We are also confident that with a continued strong governance of our revenue generating activities and financial performance, the association is well positioned and resourced to be able to offer our members improved member benefits and services in the years ahead.

Other highlights for the year include:

Industry Licensing

Significant achievements this year include confirmation that Monitoring Operators must be licensed under the Property Guard category (now recognised as either Security Officers or Monitoring Officers) and clarification that registered electricians must hold a security licence in the Security Consultant category when either selling security systems or providing security advice to customers.

We have also worked closely with our licensing authority (PSPLA) and the DIA Complaint Investigation and Prosecution Unit to take a hard line on unlicensed operators and applaud the recent prosecution of a serial unlicensed security operator.

Industry Training

There has been considerable work from Skills, the NZSA and industry work groups over the last twenty-four months in ensuring that industry qualifications are current, relevant and “fit for purpose” for trainees, employers and customers of the industry.

The current National Certificate in Security Level 2 (for guarding and patrol services) will be withdrawn at the end of this year and replaced by a New Zealand Certificate in Security Level 3. The qualification has been approved by NZQA and training materials are currently in development by training providers and Skills. The Level 4 is currently in development and will be available in 2020.

The National Certificate in Electronic Security (for security technicians) has now

been replaced with the New Zealand Certificate in Electronic Security with the Level 3 being delivered and the Level 4 recently approved by NZQA and with materials in development. Once available, the qualification will be available as an apprenticeship programme.

This year has also seen the development of a new qualification for Monitoring Operators based around the New Zealand Certificate in Contact Centres but contextualised for a monitoring centre environment.

Whilst the development of all three qualifications has been somewhat slower than hoped, there has still been significant progress and this is also mirrored in industry training outcomes where we have moved from 3% of the industry holding an NZQA qualification in 2016 to the current position of 15% of workers in the industry having a NZQA qualification.

MSD Skills for Industry initiative

In June 2018 the NZSA launched a pilot Skills for Industry contract in partnership with MSD, targeted at placing 90 candidates from benefit programmes into fulltime employment with NZSA members over a nine-month term. The pilot was the first industry led programme in New Zealand and the outcomes exceeded all expectations, successfully achieving the target placement numbers and being widely applauded by participating NZSA members and industry stakeholders.

Following the success of the pilot contract, the NZSA has entered into a new annual contract with MSD based on 150 placements annually. This not only provides NZSA members with much needed employee resource but also provides support funding to our members to assist with the training needs and pastural care requirements of the new employees.

It is also pleasing to see the NZSA Work Broker programme being held up as the benchmark for other industry sectors looking at entering into similar programmes.

Industry guideline

I’m pleased to advise that this document has now been prepared in draft and is undergoing an industry review prior to being circulated to the Unions and WorkSafe for consultation and input.

This document was originally promoted in the 2015 Coroners Report into the death of Security Officer Charanpreet Dhaliwal in 2011 where MBIE and WorkSafe were tasked with developing an Approved Code of Practice or Security Best Practice Guideline. Unfortunately, these agencies cited other priorities as taking precedence and it has required the NZSA with assistance from both Etu and NZCTU, to take ownership for preparation of the draft document.

Once approved by WorkSafe, the Guideline will be recognised as evidence of best practice and will be recognised as the “standard” for all companies operating in the guarding and security patrol sectors.

Looking forward

Whilst it is pleasing to report on such positive developments, there is also the reality that as an industry, we do have challenges ahead and areas on which we need to improve.

The recent announcement of vocational education reforms signal the managed disestablishment of ITO’s (Industry Training Organisations) and the introduction of a new model where training providers become responsible for arranging and supporting all vocational education (whether on-job or off-job) and Workforce Development Councils become responsible for moderating assessments.

The NZSA has over recent years developed an excellent relationship with our ITO, Skills, and we do hold major concerns with regards to the lack of detail and uncertainty around the new model, particularly where we have new qualifications in development.

We are also aware that changes in Government procurement (and specifically targeting security services) are due for implementation later this year and whilst we have been working closely with MBIE, the final detail has yet to be released. Similarly, the introduction of Fair Pay Agreements has been signalled as a possibility for next year, with guard and patrol service providers identified as a priority industry sector.

As mentioned earlier, the good news is that we are now well placed to manage these challenges for the benefit of our members and to look at other positive means in which we can demonstrate membership value.

I am very confident that the NZSA is recognised as the industry peak body and has the credibility with all stakeholders to be the true voice for the industry going forward.

As always, we welcome all comments and feedback.

Kind Regards

Gary Morrison
CEO

 

Letter from the Registrar

 

Security Training and Professional Development SIG

Submitted by Andy Gollings, Chairperson

The special interest group for Security Training and Professional Development continues to meet and we are making some progress towards our objective of applying wide industry experience to influence the quality and availability of training.

In our last meeting we were updated regarding the impact of ROVE on the ability of Skills to invest in the training materials for our industry. The good news is that they are fully committed to a review and streamlining of the mandatory COA units and the tools for their delivery. The bad news is that the new Level 3 and 4 qualifications will need to be supported by training material developed by Private Training Establishments. To this end the SIG has supported a request by Skills to NZQA seeking an extension to the existing Level 2 and 3 qualifications, more news to come on this shortly.

Skills updated on their new Contact Centre Qualifications (NZCiCC). The Level 3 qualification now being delivered with training effectively delivered in-house with Skills providing assessment tools that measure workplace training and how this is applied in the workplace.

We were provided an update of the NZ Certificate in Electrotechnology (Level 3 and 4). We are able to advise that a Training Plan has been submitted to NZQA for approval and we should expect that Level 4 will be available for delivery by 2020. MIT is contracted to manage this programme on behalf of Skills and ETEC will deliver it.

We are now looking to understand the quality and ability of in-house assessors and verifiers. We are investigating other options beyond the 4098 Assessor Qualification to prepare personnel to act as coaches, to develop the knowledge of their teams or verifiers and to ensure that evidence for assessment is credible. We have also discovered that Skills have some great resources, including instructional videos outlining the responsibilities associated with evidence capture for NZQA qualifications.

To continue to develop as an industry we need to be confident in the quality and consistency of training. Though there are some great trainers out there working hard to develop our workforce, accessing quality training can be challenging for some. We encourage any concerns or questions that you have be directed to the NZSA in the first instance so that we can work together to ensure our customers and our staff are provided the quality support they deserve.

NZ Certificate in Security Level 4 Review

The review of the security unit standards and the New Zealand Certificate in Security (Advanced) (Level 4) (Ref: 3643)
A Security Working Group consisting of the New Zealand Security Association, Skills, industry stakeholders and providers was set up to review the six security unit standards. Initially the review focused on the Level 4 unit standards only. As the group discussed the changes to be made to the standards they proposed that the Graduate Outcomes of the qualification required some minor changes to improve the qualification.

Qualification changes
The four Graduate Outcomes of the qualification have been amended. Graduate outcome three has had the most signification change:

• Implement and maintain the health and safety requirements for self and others, including defensive techniques, while carrying out security work.

The inclusion of defensive techniques has given concern to some stakeholders who felt the consistent assessment of the Outcome will be difficult unless there are clear parameters for assessment and trained assessors who are competent in defensive techniques.

• Maintaining the competency of defensive techniques of the security officer throughout their employment in the security industry

Review update on security unit standards 21737 and 21738
Title of unit standard 21737 changed from “Manage violence and personal safety as a security officer (level 3) (credit 8)”. Changed to “Mitigate risk to violence and personal safety from agressive behaviours (level 3) (credit 8)”. A new Outcome 4 was added to 21737 to assess the use of defensive techniques to respond to violence in a non-aggressive manner, aligning to the new Graduate Outcome 3 above. 21738 is all about the theory of the lawful use of force in security. Security officers do not have any additional powers for the “lawful use of force” as compared to those given to the general public. Here, the consequences of the “lawful use of force by security officers” must be understood. Does industry want to keep or expire this unit standard?

If you feel you want to have a say please forward your comments to Sadhna Chandra or Alan Reynolds by Friday 15 November. Email [email protected] or [email protected].

Member Benefit Newsflash

Tactical Solutions is proud to partner with NZSA and look forward to growing our relationship.

Tactical Solutions was formed in 1999 to offer security, law enforcement, defence, correctional, government and EMS organisations convenient and knowledgeable access to the world’s best operational equipment.

Since then Tactical Solutions have become the leading supplier of equipment and expertise to all of New Zealand’s government departments as well as securing significant purchasing contracts with private clients and government departments in Austalia and the Pacific Islands.

Specialties:

• Managed services
• Body armour vests
• Body-worn cameras
• Uniforms
• Security equipment
• Detection equipment

For a full list of capabilities please visit Tactical Solutions

Further information regarding the benefit offer will be announced to members in December.

Women’s Leadership Funding

Funding is available to support the development of female leaders across New Zealand’s security sector.

The initiative is providing women with grants of between $2,500 and $8,000 to enable participation in one of three programs that cover such things as reinforcing resilience and wellbeing, engaging with challenge and conflict, creating future focus, leading authentically and driving performance.

The scholarship funding is provided with the specific intent of providing powerful and effective development opportunities for security sector women, but has to be allocated by the end of 2019.

Expressions of interest – register before 6 December 2019
Find out more and register your interest by completing the form prior to 6 December:  register

New Members

We welcome the following new Corporate Members:

Bespoke Security Group Ltd
Crosbies Security Ltd
Empire Electronic Security Ltd

We welcome the following new Associate Company and Associate Individual Members:

Datalab 2011 Ltd
The Learning Place Ltd
Malik Awan
Sam Evans
Dion Neill
Rob Priest
Ajay Vir Singh
Luke Stevenson