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KEEPING YOUR BUSINESS SECURE ON THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

KEEPING YOUR BUSINESS SECURE ON THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Working the graveyard shift in any business that is open 24 hours can be a challenge in a number of ways for the business owner, management and the staff on duty during those wee hours of the morning. One of the greatest challenges is ensuring the safety of the employees and the business, as 24 hour businesses – particularly places like service stations and convenience stores – can become a target of thieves and other undesirables. Businesses also often have to contend with the drinking crowd.

Some basic tips for keeping things safe.

Hire a Security Guard

Depending on the size of your business, maybe even several security guards might be necessary. Not only will a trained security guard be able to protect employees and the business should an incident arise, security guards merely being present works wonderfully as a deterrent to troublemakers.

CCTV Cameras

These are something every business should have. In some ways they can be a deterrent to trouble starting, and the fact that the cameras record everything taking place makes for great evidence to capture and convict criminals.

Staff Training

All staff should receive some training on procedures to take and what not to do in the case of a robbery or other incident. Often remaining calm is one of the best methods of defence in situations like these. It’s not easy, but the confidence gained from effective staff training goes a long way towards ensuring incidents are handled in the safest manner possible. In reality, all staff should receive some training in how to handle situations should trouble ever arise.

Security Services Gold Coast and Brisbane

Regal Security & Industry Training offer the very best in security services in the Brisbane and Gold Coast areas. All of our security guards are highly trained professionals. And just as importantly, our staff have also mastered the art of effective communication and inter-personal skills. This goes a long way towards placating disputes in a peaceful manner.

If you operate a 24 hour business, don’t leave things to chance. Hire the expert security services of Regal Security. We’ll keep your business and staff safe after dark.
Contact us here

EFFECTIVE TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CROWD CONTROL

EFFECTIVE TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CROWD CONTROL

At any type of event where large crowds are involved, the scenario can be particularly challenging. This situation is heightened further if the consumption of alcohol is a part of the event, as drunken crowds are harder to control than a crowd of sober people.

Effective methods for crowd control can vary depending on the kind of event being held. For example, those attending a trade show are far less likely to be unruly as compared to crowds filing in and out of a rock concert where alcohol is being served.

Planning Is the key

Planning in advance how best to organise the event and deal with the swelling crowds will go a long way towards helping the event run smoothly. Organisers first need to employ the services of a reputable and effective security services company that has a specialist team to deal with crowd control. Organisers should map out the plan with the security services company, where approximate numbers of attendees are worked out, the proposed routes crowds of people will be taking when on the move, possible trouble spots, and contingency plans if something does go wrong.

Barricades and Access Points

Allocating certain access points while erecting barricades for no go zones is one of the most efficient methods to get crowds to move in the direction you want them to go. Placing an obstruction near an access point can actually help avoid a bottleneck situation, as people are forced to split up into two lines to get around the obstacle and gain entrance through a doorway. Your security services team will be able to advise you on the most effective use of barricades and where access points should be.

Communication Is Vital

All staff working at the event, as well as the security guards and crowd controllers provided by the security services company, should all be versed in how to effectively communicate with the crowds as they enter and exit the event, as well as during the event itself. People will often have questions, and all staff should be able to provide the answers. Effective communication, delivered in a firm, but calm and respectful manner, can also go a long way towards settling many disputes or conflicts that may arise.

Hire the Best In Crowd Control

For your next event, be sure to get in touch with the professionals at Regal Security & Industry Training. When it comes to security companies Brisbane and security companies Gold Coast, we are the best and the most experienced.

Whether your event is a trade show, sporting meet or music festival, our team of crowd controllers have the experience and the expertise to ensure your event runs smoothly and everyone has a great time, as is the intention.

We pride ourselves on offering the most elite and effective security services in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, so be sure to get in touch with us to discuss your upcoming event.
See Crowd Control Course 

7 STEPS TO KEEP YOUR CREDIT CARD SAFE

Your credit card information is always at risk for theft. Take steps to keep it safe and don’t be fooled by scammers who try to trick you.

1. Keep your credit cards safe.

Keep your credit cards in a purse or wallet close to your body where it can’t easily be snatched away. Ladies, make sure your purse is zipped. If you’re shopping in a high traffic area, carry a smaller purse. For both men and women, carry only the one or two credit and debit cards you’ll be using that day. Leave all your other credit cards at home.

Thieves can take pictures of your credit card with a camera or cell phone, so don’t leave your credit card exposed any longer than necessary.

After you make a purchase put your credit card away immediately. Confirm you have your credit card back in your possession before you leave the store or restaurant.

2. Shred anything with your credit card number on it.

Rather than toss your credit card billing statement directly into the trash, shred them to keep dumpster divers from getting their hands on your credit card number. The same thing applies to old credit cards that have expired or been cancelled. You might even put the shredded pieces in different trash bags to thwart clever thieves who can put shredded pages back together.

3. Don’t sign blank credit card receipts.

To avoid credit card fraud, always verify the amount on your credit card receipt before signing it. If you get a credit card receipt that has blank spaces in it, write $0 in those spaces or draw through them before putting your signature on the card. Otherwise, the cashier could write in an amount and send the purchase to your credit card issuer.

4. Avoid giving out your credit card information.

Only give out your credit card number or other sensitive information on calls you initiate to customer service using the number on the back of your credit card. Don’t return calls to a phone number left on your answering machine and don’t give your credit card number to anyone who calls you requesting the number. Credit card thieves have been known to pose as credit card issuers and other businesses to trick you into giving out your credit card number.

5. Be safe with your credit card online.

Don’t click on email links from anyone pretending to be your bank, credit card Company, or other business who uses your personal information, even if the email looks legitimate. These links are often phishing scams and the scammers want to trick you into entering your login information on their fake website.

Make sure you’re cautious when you’re using your credit cards online. Only enter your credit card number on secure websites that you can be 100% sure are legitimate. To be sure a website is secure, look for a lock in the lower right corner of your Internet browser.

6. Report lost or stolen credit cards immediately.

The sooner you report a missing credit card the less likely it is that you’ll have to pay for any fraudulent charges made on your credit card. Write down your credit card companies’ customer service number now so you’ll have it if your credit card is ever missing.

7. Review your billing statements each month.

Unauthorised changes on your credit card are the first indicator of credit card fraud. If you notice a charge you didn’t make, no matter how small, report the charge to your credit card issuer immediately. Your credit card issuer will tell you whether you should close your account to avoid credit card fraud.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND CAN ALSO BE MAN’S BEST DEFENCE

MAN’S BEST FRIEND CAN ALSO BE MAN’S BEST DEFENCE

Human beings might have the superior brain power out of all of Earth’s creatures, but that’s about where the superiority ends. When it comes to all 5 senses and physical abilities, there are animals everywhere that can beat us hands down.

We are all very aware of the inherent abilities that dogs have, most notably their enhanced hearing ability and their incredible sense of smell. When you combine these two exceptional skills with training and a handler the dog trusts with its life, you have a very formidable combination.

A dog’s abilities don’t stop with hearing and smelling. Many have keen eyesight, are powerfully built, have sharp instincts and are extremely agile.

But possibly the greatest asset in a dog is found within its nature. It wants to please its master and will do just about anything for its master’s approval. When this attitude is combined with good training, and the dog is under the command of a respectable handler or owner, this leads to the dog being highly trainable to perform certain tasks on command, without fail. And it is this ability – along with all of a dog’s other assets – that make certain dogs the perfect choice for guard duty and security services.

At Regal Security & Industry Training on the Gold Coast, we have our highly trained K9 Squad to look after your business premises, your property,  or even people. We can even have our security guards and K9’s patrol your event to help keep it secure and the crowd under control. Sometimes an agitated person will want to argue with another person, such as a security guard, but are far less likely to argue with a German Shepherd.

All handlers and dogs in our K9 Squad have been meticulously trained to the highest standards. While our dogs are there to help protect businesses, property and people, they are also highly obedient to their handlers.

You can trust our security guards and you can trust our dogs.

CCTV and alarm systems are wise security choices, but they are not the complete solution to effective security. Have peace of mind knowing that our K9 Squad is on duty patrolling the area. Call us today and enlist our 24 hour security services.

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SAFETY & SECURITY IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS – A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SAFETY & SECURITY IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS – A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Let’s look at strategies for improving security & safety in retail environments from a holistic perspective.

Retail security and protecting employees, cash and assets can be a sensitive subject. It can be difficult to have a realistic discussion on the subject, especially in the dawn of a critical incident such as robbery or theft. The view from business owners are usually shaped by previous experience, biased media coverage or advice from parties with a vested interest. These preconceptions can work against business owners when looking at ways of effectively reducing risk.

Having our own preconceived views on this subject after combining almost 20 years in the industry, we thought we would look at the challenges from a different perspective.

As a manager on the Gold Coast in a former life I was tasked with some occupational health and safety duties. Whilst some relish the detail and level of paperwork required to run a proper safety procedure, I was not one of them. The thought of conducting endless inspections, submitting compliance reports and forever hounding workers to keep in line had me dry reaching to say the least.

One of the tools I found most practical and helpful in amongst the reams of guidelines and directives was the ‘Hierarchy of Controls’ pictured above. This simple guide provides a range of controls to counteract damage to employees and assets from unsafe conditions or unsafe actions.

Starting with complete removal of the risk, which is the strongest control, the hierarchy works back from here to reduce the cause of the risk to an acceptable level. Obviously, elimination of a risk or danger is the most effective and the first preference when assessing options. Unfortunately this is not always practical or possible. When looking at the risks from crime in retail through the same lens, it becomes possible to provide and rank some of the solutions available.

When gauging the particular control in question it’s important to rank its effectiveness within the band in which it sits. As an example, CCTV, which is almost standard in all business realistically, sits towards the bottom in the engineering category. Whilst being a visual deterrent for petty criminals, CCTV doesn’t pose a barrier for a determined criminal and doesn’t remove or eliminate the targets for criminals. If installed correctly, working and turned on, it provides a potentially good reference for post event analysis. This means that hopefully the police will be able to recover enough usable evidence to catch and convict the offender.

In terms of the ‘HoC’ (this is how I plan on referring to the ‘Hierarchy of Control’ hence forth) CCTV would rate a fair way down the list of options compared to completely eliminating the risk and working back from there. I am by no means suggesting ditch the old CCTV system, up grade maybe, but not throw out. Ideally a functional and effective CCTV system is a critical part of a holistic security system just not the be all and end all.

Working down the ‘HoC’ it’s possible to work through the most appropriate options available. It’s here that I shall include my disclaimer. This isn’t by any means a detailed or exhaustive list of options or what people MUST do. Every business is different and the reality of everyone’s operation dictates certain controls are not possible or appropriate. I do suggest however that business owners should evaluate and challenge the paradigms in place using this type of tool. I often hear when talking to businesses terms like ‘I can’t’, ‘It’s always been this way’ or ‘It’s how we do things’ and wonder if they have asked themselves WHY?

The first of the controls is ‘Eliminate’. By eliminating a risk there is a complete cessation of the dangerous task, removal of the dangerous condition or element. When we think about the threat of robbery completely removing the target of the crime would be the most potent control. Removing all money, drugs or other valuable items from the store certainly meets the criteria of elimination. Is this really possible in this instance? I think the answer would be a resounding NO. By having no stock to steal, not accepting money (which then means no change to be given out!) would lead to a fairly crumby operation, certainly not a profitable one. The next risk that could be eliminated would be the perpetrators of the crimes, people. Closing the shop would mean no customers or bandits coming through the door. With no customers there wouldn’t be much need for staff, which, incidentally would reduce internal theft. Again, I suspect the result would be complete elimination of the robbery risk but a sharp increase in the risk of poverty for the owner.

Every business owners accepts a level of risk by opening their doors to trade. Being that closing the doors and going purely online isn’t really an option for the majority of retail businesses we must look further down the ‘HoC’ to the next level of control, which is Substitution.

Substitution could mean removing cash and only accepting credit card or debit payments for goods. It’s possible to have customers pay online then attend site to collect their purchases. Whilst this is certainly possible it’s quite likely not appropriate. Depending on a variety of factors such as the cost of items, customer demographics and most importantly flexible and good customer service, this isn’t really an option either. It becomes even more remote when you think of substituting pharmaceutical drugs in a Chemist to something not desirable to criminals. It’s unlikely that a customer would accept a bottle of Echinacea pills when what they really wanted Sudafed for their raging, latest edition flu.

Again we see options for substitution, however in the cold light of day these are impractical and potentially harmful to the business. Engineering controls is the next most effective level of control. It’s here that the options open up. There is a abundance of products and services designed to improve security and reduce or negate risk. It’s here that you need to be more discriminating and analytical when selecting the best option or options for your business. Options here include, CCTV, secure cash handling equipment, safes, personal panic alarms, anti jump barriers and security guards etc etc etc.

Whilst each one is designed to reduce risk, some prove more effective then others. As mentioned above, CCTV is a recognized security product and almost ubiquitous in retail environments. However, CCTV has never stopped a serious and determined robbery or theft from occurring. It may have meant the offender was caught shortly thereafter (I stress MAY) but didn’t stop the incident or the trauma and loss it caused. I agree that to some criminals CCTV could be a deterrent however I have never seen any anecdotal evidence to support this. If you have some legitimate supporting information please send it to me! So in this regard it’s helpful to rank your options according to where they fit and how effective they are against preventing an incident.

I have rated the suggestions put forth above in order of how I see them in terms of effectiveness:

  1. Anti Jump Barrier – installed correctly this effectively seals off the POS, cash, valuables and employees. Essentially this type of system can remove the ability to access the target of robbery.
  2. Secure Cash Handling Systems – Intelligent safes, TACC Safes, Self-Serve Checkouts and the Counter Cache Intelligent all control and limit access to cash held onsite. They are difficult to attack and eliminate crimes of opportunity. They also limit internal theft.
  3. Safes – conventional safes can store cash, drugs and other small items of value. When properly locked they can be an extremely difficult targets for criminals.
  4. Security Guard – Having an alert & uniformed presence in the shop provides another set of eyes, a focused and potentially physical barrier to committing crime.
  5. Personal Panic Alarms – Give employees confidence that they can call for help should something happen.
  6. CCTV – Described twice above.

The next, and second last control is titled Administrative Controls. Essentially this refers to developing appropriate safe work methods, documenting set procedures and guidelines and conducting appropriate training. For our particular focus, this can include opening and closing procedures, how tills are balanced and how banking is conducted. Effective procedures and training can be a most effective control against attack. If all employees know exactly what’s expected of them through appropriate training, incidents can be reduced by efficiency alone. Conducting and documenting regular hold up training will not stop a robbery or theft but it may serve to protect employees, reduce trauma and lessen the time a criminal needs to spend onsite. Administrative controls would possibly be most effective against internal loss as opportunity for theft is reduced.  Training employees in documented procedures for balancing and various other tasks reduces the scope to steal and projects the perception that the employer has a tight grip on the business. Grey areas or gaps in key processes are a ‘would be’ thief’s best friend!

This method of control would also include clear signage highlighting the security features utilized by a business. These overt signs advertise the fact that you have robust and active protective systems in place. Highly visible stickers on doors and counters referencing a CCTV system or the fact staff cannot access cash cast doubt in the mind of criminals. The outcome here would be to force criminals to find an easier target.

The last control in the ‘HoC’ is personal protective equipment. This level of control accepts that by using the above controls a risk is still present. Personal protective equipment or PPE is extremely difficult to utilize in a retail environment. A welder using a welding mask to protect from the inevitable welding flash is appropriate and completely necessary. For a retail assistant, Pharmacist or petrol station attendant to wear a bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet and carry a firearm preparing for a violent physical attack occurs is absurd.

It’s clear from the brief description above that once eliminating a potential risk is ruled out, finding effective solutions can be complicated. I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be. Instead of focusing on one of the controls mentioned in the ‘HoC’ it’s not only suggested, but also expected under OH&S legislation that any and all appropriate controls be put into play. For example, reducing the amount of cash held onsite by regular banking reduces the exposure to loss. Adding an anti jump barrier stops someone from getting to the remaining cash and drugs held onsite and protects the POS operator. Installing some sought of cash storage or handling system further limits the exposure to loss. Overseeing all of this with a functioning and effectively placed CCTV system captures events as they take place and allows for post event analysis. Combining all this with appropriate signage selling the story of what measures are in place provides a potent physical and mental deterrent.

You cannot protect against every contingency. I get a lot of ‘what if’ questions and scenarios put to me in the course of my discussions with small business owners. A lot of the time people’s imaginations run away with them envisaging situations that are statistically possible, however so remote they don’t warrant consideration. Worse still, this obsessing on the worst case scenario actually prevents businesses from investing in good systems that fix a lot of far more likely day to day issues and risks. Preparing for the day Zombies ravage the earth and its inhabitants whilst prudent shouldn’t stand in the way of working on solid and effective retail protection strategies today!

If you would like to ask any questions about the information above or discuss it in further detail, feel free to contact us anytime.

THE ADVANTAGES OF VIP SECURITY PROTECTION

THE ADVANTAGES OF VIP SECURITY PROTECTION

VIP security differs from regular crowd control or static security services. With this specialist kind of security, security guards or bodyguards are personally responsible for the protection of a celebrity or person of notoriety.

There can be many reasons why famous people and celebrities might be targeted and need protection:

  • Money
  • Fame
  • Stalking
  • Political aspirations

To name just a few of the common ones.

VIP security services are there to both protect the VIP, while at the same time ensuring fans and other people keep their distance. This kind of security also helps to guarantee at least some semblance of privacy while the celebrity is at home or on location somewhere.

Even if there is no immediate danger, over-enthusiastic fans can also cause concerns when they get too close to a popular VIP, movie star or pop star.

The main advantage of hiring specialist VIP security services is the experience and expertise that comes with the territory.

Regal Elite Protection Squad (R.E.P.S)

The Regal Elite Protection Squad provides exceptional personal security services without compromise. When you choose Regal Security for your VIP protection, your safety is guaranteed in any environment and at all locations.

Groomed for the most sensitive and important roles, our team of security professionals are highly trained in the specialist art of VIP security and, just as importantly, our security guards are equipped with first class interpersonal skills and have immaculate presentation. When you enlist the aid of the Regal Elite Protection Squad, you are not hiring cowboys, but a world class security team of highly trained professionals.

If you are high profile individual or group visiting the Gold Coast or Brisbane areas, get in touch with the local experts at R.E.P.S. Together we will discuss your requirements and formulate a customised security plan to satisfy your needs and guarantee your complete safety for the duration of your stay.

Our services are discreet, professional and first class. All our staff receive ongoing training, coaching and mentoring and are involved in elite tactical training provided by martial arts experts and ex-military personnel.

You are in exceptional hands when you enlist the protect of Regal Security’s Regal Elite Protection Squad.