Pocket Guide to incident prevention introduced for front line professionals

The first opportunity to change the course of an incident is often at the front door. A search. A conversation. Eye contact. A change in behaviour. Someone who appears vulnerable. Something that simply doesn’t feel right. Those few seconds can be the difference between preventing an incident and responding to one. That’s the thinking behind the new Pocket Guide.

Available through Get Licensed’s Front Line Academy, this vital resource for security officers brings together 133 written topics and 60 short videos covering searches and entry, conflict, vulnerability, drugs awareness, First Aid and emergencies. It’s free of charge, with no account or e-mail address required.

Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association and chair of the International Professional Security Association, commented: “The front door is one of the most important intervention points we have. A search isn’t just about finding something. It’s an opportunity to see, hear and engage with the person coming into your space. Are they vulnerable? Is their behaviour concerning? Is there something that warrants a second look? Those few seconds matter. Make sure that moment is right and you may change what happens next. The incident you prevent at the door is the incident you never have to manage inside.”

From training to action 

The Pocket Guide is built around a simple preventative mindset: ‘Look. Listen. Engage. Recognise. Act’. It actively encourages security officers to recognise the small opportunities for early intervention throughout a shift: from an effective search or spotting vulnerability through to recognising developing conflict and communicating concerns before they escalate.

Satia Rai, CEO of the International Professional Security Association, explained: “Great security isn’t only about how we respond when something goes wrong. It’s about everything front line professionals do to stop it going wrong in the first place. Prevention can be a second look, a question, a search, noticing a change in behaviour or acting on something that doesn’t feel right. We want this guide for security officers to reinforce one question throughout every shift: ‘What can I do now that could prevent a problem later on?’”

The Pocket Guide complements rather than replaces formal training, providing officers with practical reminders they can access when knowledge needs to be refreshed. That’s consistent with the purpose set out in the original initiative.

Right reminder, right moment

Shahzad Ali, founder and CEO of Get Licensed, said: “Training gives you the knowledge. The front line tests when you remember to use it. At 2.00 am, security officers don’t need another textbook. They need the right reminder at the right moment. That’s what this is about: train for the job, reinforce for the moment and intervene before an incident becomes an incident.”

The Pocket Guide is free to access and designed to be shared directly across security teams, venues and employers.

*Access copies of the Pocket Guide online at www.get-licensed.co.uk