Guyana will this week receive its first batch of security supervisors and managers trained to international standards, as 14 participants complete the Certificate in industrial Security Management (CISM) at the University of Guyana.
The programme, which is an initiative between the Institute of Security and Public Safety and the university’s Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), has seen participants exposed to modern concepts in industrial security management, principal instructor Clairmont Featherstone said in a statement.
The participants in the programme were drawn from the Guyana Oil company, Bank of Guyana, Guyana Fire Service, MACORP, Customs Enforcement, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, theGuyana Prison Service, the Guyana National Shipping Corporation and two highly sensitive business interests.
According to Featherstone, among the “modern concepts in industrial security management” to which participants were exposed were the latest methods for managing physical security, patrol duties, security records, occupational health and safety, security risk management, safety management, operations management, security surveys, security policies, managing shift work, security insurance, and management of job stress and job trauma.
“All successful participants will be able to join the local professional body, in addition to the international bodies of their choice,” Featherstone noted, while saying that it would provide them with the required level of exposure to build confidence and competence to operate internationally. “At the moment most local security practitioners lack the psychological confidence to function in an international theatre of operation,” he added.
Although the course only got underway in April last, Featherstone said it has already been “well received” by at least two international companies. In addition, he noted that so far two of the 14 participants are now qualified to become consultant practitioners, as they have attained “the professional experience, responsible charge, academic and security training to their credit.” Arrangements are underway to facilitate examinations in India for them, he added.
Featherstone also said the fact that Guyana could produce two consultant practitioners in a relatively short time means that the potential was always there, but there was no enabling environment.
The CISM, Featherstone noted, was made possible through the cooperation of the South African Institute of Security (SAIS) and the International Institute of Security and Safety Management (IISSM) in association with the locally based Caribbean Institute of Security.
