Many years back, I had this guy over for an interview. Impeccable references, impressive resume, imposing posture. He had been working as a door supervisor for London’s most famous clubs for years.

Let’s call him John.

John told me he has had enough of clubs and bars and fights and that he decided to combine his passions into one and become a security guard with a dog. A dog-handler.

John liked dogs.

I gave John a chance and pointed him to the right path into becoming a dog-handler.

In short time, he showed up to start his new assignment, looking very smart and confident. After all, it is the natural sort of attitude when you know what you’re doing, right?

I had his brand new dog handler uniform, changing the black suit with black combats and his comfy shoes with boots.  

He got from me a marked Dog Unit vehicle and the address of the construction site, plus a few pointers about the do’s and don’ts of the job.

John said he knows what he’s doing and once the Dog Unit was complete, he was on his way. I finished some other things at the office and went home.

Close to midnight, the phone rings. John is asking me (not very calmly) to come to the construction site immediately, ‘or else’. I jumped out of bed, got in the car and as I arrived at the site I found him covered in mud, dog agitated and a ‘That’s not what I signed up for’ attitude all over the place, followed by a resignation.

Patrolling on construction sites turned out to be nothing like guarding a door entrance. Most security agents come from a door supervising background and without the proper training and right attitude don’t know what to do on a construction site. The Health and Safety assessment is a vital part of the training process and all dog handlers must acknowledge it and sign it. Otherwise, when an incident occurs on the construction site, the construction managers will not be able to rely as they should on the security they’ve hired.

Many dog-handlers come from being door guards or other jobs not related to constructions, and even if they are security guards, patrolling on a construction site is terribly different, as John realized.

Used to being all nice and dry in a club, he realized he shouldn’t walk through all the mud on the construction site and get in all puddles.

Construction site patrolling staff need to understand construction H&S: manholes need to be avoided, electric cables, lifts shafts, to stay away from the half erected buildings, to stay clear from heavy plants and machinery, don’t mess with the generators. Those are only a few of the hazards on a construction site.

Construction workers have to have a CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card and they do H&S almost every day.

Security guards have an SIA card and their H&S is done from a door supervisor point of view.

There is a Security Guard non-front line SIA card as well and it covers just a little bit of a site patrol.

As a construction manager, you better check if the security company sending the guards on your site have instructed them on the right type of H&S and that they have prepared the H&S Risk Assessment specific for your site.

You will be surprised how many small companies and self-employed guards out there haven’t got a clue what we are talking about.

Better to check than to find out the guard fell in a mannschaft because no one told them they shouldn’t. And you find out too late there is not an H&S Risk Assessment signed by the guard.

For a FREE assessment of your company’s security needs, you can call us on 02086371406 now, and you will be presented with this wonderful booklet:

Construction Security Security Tips written by myself, which is packed with 106 useful security …well … tips.  

You’ll learn:

  • How to protect your construction site with security and guard dogs
  • How to effectively utilize closed-circuit television
  • How to utilize appropriate lighting
  • How to prevent personnel problems
  • How to prevent repeated theft
  • How to effectively utilize both daytime and nighttime security and access control.

If you manage a construction site or any premises or buildings you can call us for a FREE Security Assessment and receive the above booklet as a Thank You gift.

If you are not in need of security for your business right now please forward this article to your Business Manager friends and they will be grateful to you.

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