The UK’s security services sector has undergone a fair amount of change in recent years. 

This includes new security technology, such as CCTV, and a consequent re-engineering of services. It includes the growth of integrated facilities management contracts and the impact of government spending cuts and the outsourcing of services, such as prisons and policing, support to achieve savings.

At the same time, we’ve seen an increase in levels of security in places such as airports and other sensitive locations and parallel growth of internet retailing with an attendant impact on the character of many high streets.

There is virtually no major public or private organization without a team dedicated to managing issues of security. The in-house security team within every business – described above, is just one part of the industry. There is also an entire sector devoted to providing business-to-business-security solutions. And security professionals can be involved in providing crime awareness advice, working to reduce vandalism on urban estates, monitoring behaviour on our streets, or protecting buildings for clients who contract their services. Another end of the profession is dedicated to selling, installing, or manufacturing the latest digital security technologies.

The market is strong, and rapidly expanding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an impact on the increasing demand for security services, causing more people in the UK to work alone: either away from their organization’s base, at home, or during abnormal hours. Working alone can create additional health and safety risks and lone worker devices (LWD), electronic devices able to transmit location, identity, and voice to a monitoring centre and request assistance, offer additional personal security.

The Importance of Security Standard BS 10800

At BSI, we’re working hard to deliver a suite of security services standards that are fit for the future of this dynamic and critically important sector.

Sitting at the top of the national security services standards hierarchy, standard BS 10800 gives recommendations for the management, staffing, and operation of an organization providing security industry services. It contains all the generic recommendations required for the provision of any security service.

The service-specific security standards (e.g. for manned security, security dogs, cash and valuables in transit services, etc) now sit under the “umbrella” of this standard. Whilst this standard is new, it contains a lot of content that was formerly in BS 7499.

It’s for security services providers and users, which encompasses:

• SIA Approved Contractors

• Organizations providing security services

• Organizations installing alarm systems

• Those responsible for security systems in buildings

• Security service training officers

• Facilities management companies

• Security companies

• The retail, sports, entertainment, and airports sectors

• Prisons, probation, and police services

• Local government

To learn more about the business benefits of our security standards, read our article 'How standards help organizations manage their security'.

Other Key Security Services Standards

Implementing security standards to help your organization with the provision of security services will help maintain your business’ reputation, and save time, money, and potentially lives.

Other key security best practices for the provision of security services include:

BS 8484:2022 Provision of lone worker services. Code of practice

Now that more than one in five of the UK’s working population work alone, have you considered if your organization is looking after its lone workers effectively enough? BS 8484 gives recommendations for the provision of safety and security for employees in a lone working scenario where the customer’s risk profile identifies the need for a lone worker service (LWS).

Lone workers are employees or sub-contracted individuals who operate out of sight or sound of colleagues. This includes people working from home. BS 8484 gives recommendations for minimizing false alarms , managing low-level genuine incidents that do not require an immediate physical response and maximizing continual engagement with an LWS.

BS 7984-3:2020 Keyholding and response services. Provision of mobile security services. Code of practice.

Any security operator controlling customer keys or passcodes needs to assure those customers that they are in safe hands. BS 7984-3 gives recommendations for the management, staffing, and operation of organizations providing mobile patrol services, such as security companies and agencies, building management companies, local authorities, and those promoting compliance.

BS EN 17483-1:2021 Private security services. Protection of critical infrastructure. General requirements.

BS EN 17483-1 includes the main overarching requirements for the provision of private security services for critical infrastructure. It lays down quality criteria for the delivery of security services requested by public and private clients. It specifies service requirements for quality in the organization, processes, personnel, and management of a security service provider and/or its independent branches and establishments under commercial law and trade as a provider of security services.

BS 7499:2020 Provision of static guarding security services. Code of practice.

BS 7499 is a code of practice giving recommendations on how to provide static security guarding services. It gives recommendations for the management, staffing, and operation of an organization providing security guarding services on a static site and/or mobile patrol basis. It isn’t applicable to all security services, for example, cash-in-transit services, secure parcel services, keyholding and response services, door supervisors, close protection services, event stewarding, and the management and operation of closed-circuit television (CCTV).

BS 8549:2016 Security consultancy. Code of practice.

BS 8549 gives recommendations on management, resourcing, and operation for the provision of contracted security consultancy services. It also assists procurers wishing to contract such services to ensure the service fits the end-user requirements and risk profile.

Want to have access to all your security standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives your security business the flexibility and visibility to share security knowledge and best practices across your whole team - enabling you to get the most from your standards. Request to learn more.

Experience the benefits of security services standards to your organization by adding these standards to your collection today.