Total Security Solutions: Crafting the Adept Surveillance
In the contemporary landscape, ensuring the safety & security of assets, personnel and information has become a paramount concern for organisations across various sectors. A seamless, robust security framework is crucial; the right security solutions provider can make all the difference. Several key elements contribute to establishing an ideal security service provider in India, emphasising the concept of Total Security Solutions (TSS) and the importance of interrelated components such as CCTV, access & barrier control, lone worker monitoring, intruder & fire alarm and Internet Protocol (IP) CCTV. Understanding the TSS (Total Security Solution) Framework The concept of a Total Security Solution (TSS) is founded on the integration of various security components to craft a comprehensive, end-to-end security cover for organisations. This framework goes beyond individual security measures and aims to provide a seamless, interconnected security solution. With the implementation of TSS, the majority of security service providers in India have excelled in offering an integrated approach that covers every aspect of meticulous surveillance. The key components of TSS are as follows: CCTV Installation & Implementation: Integral to modern security setups, CCTVs should be installed by professional security service providers that have ample expertise in planning, designing, installing & maintaining complete monitoring practices. This includes strategically placing cameras, ensuring comprehensive coverage and utilising advanced monitoring technologies for real-time surveillance. Access Control & Convenience: Monitoring the authorisation to several specific areas is critical when it comes to organisational security. An adept security service provider should offer a reinforced access control solution, that will comprise biometric systems, key card access and other cutting-edge technologies. This ensures that only authorised personnel can enter designated areas, enhancing overall security. Fire Alarm System: Protection against fire hazards is a fundamental aspect of security in organisations as well. Easily attainable fire extinguishers, smoke-detecting sensors alarm switches and a well-laid-out fire exit act as...
INDIVIDUAL ACTION FOR MAINTAINING SECURITY OF RESIDENTAL SOCITIES
[vc_row row_scroll_icon="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] SECURITY STRUCTURE OF HOUSING SOCIETIES Housing societies maintain their own security systems which comprise a combination of some of the following: - Security guards/ supervisors/ armed guards Electronic security measures like CCTV Fire fighting systems Designated parking slots for residents and guests Barriers at gates Visitor passes/ vendor passes/ worker passes/ material gate passes [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_scroll_icon="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL No security system can be successful without active support of the inhabitants of that society. All residents can help the security set up by following the standard procedures of movement, parking, fire etc established by the society. Security providers have observed some reluctance of the residents in following the norms like proper entry of guests, vendors and maids etc. The residents need to realize that helping the security set up is in their own interest.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_scroll_icon="no" css=".vc_custom_1623047495158{padding-top: 25px !important;}"][vc_column width="7/12"][vc_column_text] INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS Here is a list of actions the residents can undertake individually: - Follow the procedures mentioned for the residents Don’t litter waste/ garbage in the premises Bring any fire hazard, like naked electrical wires, loose connections, to the knowledge of the maintenance wing Help the security personnel deployed at the society by treating them fairly and providing them assistance in discharging their duties Switching off the head lights of your vehicle while entering the gate of the society and switching on the cabin light for easy identification Report the movement of any suspicious person loitering in the society to the security Report any suspicious activity in and around the premises Keep your doors and windows securely locked when not in the house Inform the security when leaving the society for days together Ensure that all electrical appliances have been switched off and unplugged if they will not be used for several days or weeks [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="5/12" el_class="csr_activites"][eltd_variable_width_slider][eltd_variable_width_slider_item target="_blank" image="7553"][eltd_variable_width_slider_item target="_blank" image="7552"][/eltd_variable_width_slider][vc_column_text] ‘Small hands of CISS employees They took an oath to take care of the environment’ [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]...
INDIVIDUAL ACTION DURING HOUSE/ BUILDING FIRE
Fury Of Fire Fire is one of the largest accidental causes of deaths. Many fire accidents happen at places where people sleep; e.g. hotels, houses etc. Such accidental fires are able to create havoc when people are generally sleeping or less alert; i.e. between midnight and early morning. Most prevalent cause of death during fires is asphyxiation or deprivation of oxygen. Fires consume the oxygen available in the room and density of carbon mono oxide increase in the atmosphere. Inhalation of carbon mono oxide can cause death in just a few minutes. The heat emanating from fire can melt clothes and scorch the skin and lungs. The temperature at eye level is sometimes six to seven times that of the floor level. House/ building fires create a black smoke which chokes the respiratory systems and create an atmosphere of low visibility. This makes the evacuation difficult for firefighting personnel. Community Arrangements Building fire safety measures are installed during construction or later. They are systems which either check the fires before they break out or help in extinguishing fires, if they happen. Most buildings have a team of personnel that will have to act during fires or any other such accident. Generally used systems for fire control in buildings are fire detection cum alarm systems, fire hydrant systems, fire sprinkler systems, fire doors, fire escapes, fire blankets, auto fire suppression systems and different kinds of fire extinguishers. Individual Actions Here is a list of actions we can undertake individually: - Never lose presence of mind and don’t panic in any situation. Inform the building fire fighting organization, if any or fire department or police. Immediately pull the nearest fire alarm, if available. When evacuating the building, be sure to feel doors for heat before opening them to be sure there is no fire danger on the other side. If there is smoke in the air, stay...
AN INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC
CURRENT SITUATION Current situation of the country with respect to Covid 19 pandemic is alarming. Hordes of infected people are looking for beds in hospitals across several states. Number of deaths due to Covid 19 is mounting by the day. Doctors and other medical staff are getting infected, oxygen is in short supply and required medicines are hard to find at some places. SILVER LINING DURING CLOUDS OF DOOM A silver lining during this gloomy period is availability of vaccines against Covid 19. However, an individual can only register and wait to be vaccinated and there is precisely nothing else he or she can do in this regard. Second reason of hope is the formation of antibodies against Covid 19 virus in those of us who have been infected and recovered. The antibodies last for three to six months and this duration varies from person to person. Another reason for optimism is that we have probably reached the peak of the second wave or about to reach there. Cases have started coming down in some states but other states are still witnessing an upward graph. Hopefully the downward trend will start very soon. AVOID THE PESSIMISTIC NEWS As an individual we do have to see what are the things under our control and what are beyond it. It is futile to worry about the things beyond our control as it is going to lead to negativism and depression. Do not worry about things like: - Number of cases coming up on daily basis Lack of hospital beds Lack of oxygen/ ventilators and other life supporting systems Number of people dying Black marketing of necessary items used to fight covid ACTION POINTS We can start taking action on the things which are within our control and improve our chances of fighting the pandemic, e.g.: - Maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour Taking...
ACCESSING THE MENTAL GREEN ZONE
(To feel safe is everyone’s common concern) The purpose of our brain is to self-preserve by readapting. It scans our environment and no sooner we are exposed to any life threatening danger the default self-preserve mode (aka instincts) takes over eg. If a fire breaks out you will rush towards the exit or to the fire extinguisher immediately. This physiological response is termed as fight or flight. This amalgamation of responses to strenuous situations is known as the "fight-or-flight" reaction because it progressed as a survival mechanism, to react hurriedly to a grave life-consuming situation. On Neurosafety: When the brain detects a reward, it triggers an automated ENGAGE neural response that drives us towards that perceived reward and ultimately also enables us to function at our best (e.g. improved creativity, better judgment, enhanced memory, effective decision-making, better communication, etc.). * When our brain detects a THREAT the opposite happens as an automated DISENGAGE response is triggered. Our ability to solve problems, communicate, understand consequences, evaluate situations, control impulses, plan ahead, recall information and make decisions is severely impaired at a neurological level. * When in this 'fear-state', an individual’s ability to perform even simple routine actions – not to mention perform at their best when things go wrong – is disrupted as their brain tries to work its way through the perceived threat (inter-personal or environmental). This often causes them to behave in unsafe ways - taking shortcuts, hiding or lying about incidents, ignoring safety procedures and making unsafe decisions, especially when under pressure. * Since the past few months, we’ve been forced to see everyone we come in contact with as a possible source of infection. Our world took a 180 degree turn as we can’t go for a movie; go to the temple or malls as freely as before. We are living in a state of constant anxiety....
CREATING PREFERENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS
PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY, INDIA The Indian Private Security Industry operates with over ~21,500 PSARA licensed Agencies clocking Rs. ~1.14 Lakh-Crores as current market size and spread across 36 states and UTs, has a surprisingly miniscule representation in Brand recall by a handful of leading PSAs, dominated mostly by foreign MNCs. There is hardly any strong indigenous brand dominance in India except a few, although there is no match to the global brands. The Indian private security industry having evolved over almost 4 decade therefore has undoubtedly not been able to get their act together at all. This is a burning issue that the Industry needs to address on war footing to realize our stated national mission of creating a $5 Trillion Indian economy where the Service sector contributes a lion’s share with the Private Security Industry being second largest manpower employer. Paradoxically, the big brands are still able to command their terms and price in a market generally perceived to be extremely un-regulated, un-ethical, price cannibalistic and profit mongering. One may therefor derive that the real professional standard Private Security Service transactions are actually confined to probably the top 7-8 industry players who control ~8-10% market share. These companies are highly diversified in service and form and are much Tech savvy who lead more with their advanced lines of businesses than their high visibility manned guarding. It is starkly opposite for the rest of 90-92% of market players who depend on low margin low delight plain vanilla manned guarding as their main stay. The discerning client expects administration of its security, safety, social wellness and environment aspects to be managed through a single window format adhering to the highest levels of compliances and service delivery by their outsourced service provider. These physical activities are intertwined and overlay as a common service domain, which...
CORONAVIRUS: REALITY CHECK
Health, World Affairs / By adityapimple1 When the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19 began in China in December 2019-January 2020 and went on to spread around the world, Governments and Public Health authorities struggled to come to grips with this unknown virus. As the virus spread through Europe next, with Italy and Spain being the worst hit, Italy became the first Country in the World outside of China to announce a stringent lockdown of its citizen. 5 Months on, we have learnt much more about the virus than we did when the pandemic began, with the most reliable date coming out of Europe and the United States which have borne the worst of the pandemic. But what has also come to light are the extremely divergent views on the virus and the means of dealing with it, not dictated by the available scientific information, but by pre-existing biases focusing more on anecdotal instances than on actual numbers and science. The reality of the virus, and the manner in which it is to be dealt with, lies somewhere in the middle, between extreme paranoia or blatant and irresponsible carelessness. To understand Covid-19 virus properly, one needs to look no further than the Bergamo Province in the Lombardy Region of Italy, which was the first to be hit by the virus and resulted into the harrowing and scary images flashed on TV screens around the World showing the enormous humanitarian and economic damage that the virus could cause. An important factor for using this region as the best pool for analysing the virus is because it was the first to be hit, and the behaviour of the virus, for a long period was not stopped by timely and necessary preventive measures like physical distancing or masks till the time the localized lockdown in the...
TIME TO RE-BOOT PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY IN INDIA
“Security is a fundamental need of humanity hence security service is a recession free business. We shall overcome and survive all the tribulations of times”. BACKGROUND In the 70’s when PSI (Private Security Industry) was in its nascent stage, PSAs (Private Security Agencies) could demand mobilization fee to the extent of one month’s cost of service, which was later amortized over a few months. Alternately some agencies insisted and did receive advance payments for their services. However, then the business format was rudimentary and compliances were not stringent. Over these five decades or so, Guarding services have transformed into a recognized Industry, complete with watchdog agency, legislations and regulatory framework, the Private Security Agency (Regulations) Act, 2005, (PSARA). The PSI is mentored by CAPSI (Central Association of Private Security Industry), which functions both ways; like a watchdog and like a representative interphase between the Industry and Governing bodies and the Government. To further the cause of skill development in the PSI under the ages of Skill India movement, the SSSDC was formed to set up NOS (National Occupational Standards) for the PSI and implement Skill training and certifications under the various schemes launched under NSDC. Open data sources indicate that the Indian PSI is today, app. INR 90,000 crores size business operated by 12,848 active PSARA licensed PSAs (Total PSARAs issues is 21,750 out of which 8904 PSARAs have expired), the largest employer in India employing app. 90 lakh security guards which includes 90% in unorganized segment. Globally, Security industry will touch app. $127 billion by 2021. WHAT AILS PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY IN INDIA This industry presently thrives on common minimum demand and supply fulfillment on price and value proposition hence prices are always under immense pressure as low satisfaction level is acceptable to the service takers. This defeats the aspiration and objects of all...
THE NEW NORMAL FOR PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Covid-19 has three potential fallout scenarios by mid 2020 considering the present disaster management protocol in force; ‘low impact’ infecting 12 crore people; ‘medium impact’ infecting 18 crore people and ‘high impact’ infecting 25 crore people; each with commensurate numbers of hospitalizations and deaths. Nationwide lockdown for 21 days, and under certain extension(s), have brought economic activity to a standstill. Recessionary trend can be seen in overall slowdown on consumption (private & institutional), Investments (includes capital, additional funding and availability of working capital, banking sector issues etc) and slackening dynamics of trade & commerce. In recessions caused by trade & commerce slowdown alone resulting in fall in output indicators, there may be expected a ‘V’ shaped recovery (best case- 1 to 2 qtr, i.e. end of 2020.); there could be a case for ‘U’ shaped recovery given debt or financial sector meltdown though Indian domestic economy is well insulated from global trends (optimum case- 2 to 4 qtr. i.e. mid 2021) whereas a ‘L’ shaped recovery would be worst case scenario, well extended, where recession is impacted due to a large number of additional factors. Though, there could be minimum to moderate impact across allsectors however MSMEs will be affected the most and at the earliest.MSMEs are the largest employer in India with ~114 Million employment spread across Trade (36%), Manufacturing (31%) and Other services (33%), which includes Private Security Industry (PSI). The geographical distribution of MSMEs is Rural (49%) and Urban (51%). With a workforce of over 89 lakh personnel managed by over 22,000 PSAs; the PSI is one of the largest employment providing servicewithin MSMEs in the country and one of the largest contributors to corporate and social security taxes (GST, PF, ESI, income tax etc.).This Service being manpower intensive and real time responsiveis extremely sensitive to market dynamics;...
Message from Mr. RN Pimple, Chairman & Management of Central Investigation & Security Services Ltd on CISS completing 35 Years
Message from Mr. RN Pimple, Chairman & Management of Central Investigation & Security Services Ltd on CISS completing 35 Years “CISS pays homage to families of all fellow Indians who have fallen fighting Corona disease”. CISS’s Milestones in Reconstructing India’s Private Security Industry: Making it Attractive Again Year 1985: Creation of CISS Central Investigation and Security Services Ltd popularly known through out India as CISS, came into existence in 1985, when security industry was in initial phase and today it is an oldest and most professionally managed company with a difference. Years 1990s - 2000 CISS emerges most preferred Company CISS built a robust reputation as dependable experts in Total Security Solutions and Loss Prevention. Many clients have retained CISS as their most preferred security solutions partner for upwards of 20-25 years. In fact, one client has preferred CISS for 33 years …...
