Security Awareness Training for Your Employees It's Much More Important Than You May Think By Carmen DaecherThe National Transit Institute has developed security awareness and incident response training for the transit industry. The American Bus Association and the United Motorcoach Association, through a grant from the Transportation Security Administration, have developed security awareness training for the motorcoach industry. The Daecher Consulting Group was part of this effort, and led ten "Train the Trainer" sessions throughout the country during April and May. In my opinion, the response for training materials and attendance at the Train the Trainer sessions was disappointing. Approximately 800 motorcoach companies have requested security training materials through the United Motorcoach Association, and an average of 25 to 30 people have attended the Train the Trainer workshops, many companies being represented by more than one attendee or by organizations that were not motorcoach companies. Why? Maybe security issues aren't as important as they once were to you. Maybe there are more important things to deal with on a day to day basis. Maybe the time of the year was wrong to attend the Train the Trainer sessions. Maybe you think that there is nothing you really can do about security related issues. No matter what your reasons, my question is "What are you going to do if a bus is used or involved in some terrorist act?" You may think such an event is remote. Please note the following:
Whether you think that the police and other security related organizations should beef up their staffs and play a more prominent role in preventing such possibilities, you must remember that bus transportation cannot be made secure by these agencies without substantially changing our way of providing service. If you want people going through metal detectors, their luggage being searched, and identification being confirmed before they ride your coach, then consider the increases in cost to ride your bus and the huge additions of time necessary to provide such security clearance. If you accept the fact that there is no viable way to provide security clearance as they do at airports for our bus systems, you must look to yourselves as the front line for identifying and reporting suspicious persons, packages, or situations. Air marshals, passenger screeners, and state police stationed at the Logan International Airport in Boston, MA have undergone training to look for suspicious behaviors and situations that could indicate a terrorist plot. They look for odd or suspicious behavior: heavy clothes on a hot day, loiterers without luggage, anyone observing security methods. They are identifying suspicious situations and behaviors and reporting them for further surveillance. The security training that has been developed for the motorcoach industry provides the knowledge for your employees to do the same thing: Awareness to identify suspicious behavior, packages or situations and suggested procedures for response and notification are discussed for all groups of employees. Are you prepared if your bus is in a location or, even worse, affected by some terrorist act? Are your drivers prepared to respond to such events? Are you prepared to respond to emergency evacuations or emergency shutdowns of your operations if ordered to do so by governmental agencies, such as what happened to the airline industry on September 11, 2001? If not, you should be planning for crisis response now. Hopefully, you have a crisis response plan for serious accidents. This can be a foundation from which to expand your crisis response to include terrorist acts and the possibility of having to shutdown your entire operation if necessary. Planning for these possibilities so that people within your organization clearly understand their role; the flow of communication is clearly defined; and contingencies for passengers are defined is important for you to do now - not in the middle of an event. And make sure your plans work. The security training developed for the motorcoach industry provides information for responding to a crisis and for planning for system shutdowns. If you don't think it is going to happen to you, you should think again. Even if you are located in a tranquil and peaceful community, you wouldn't be in the motorcoach industry if your buses stayed there. Your vehicles move all over the country and into many locations which are more likely locations for terrorist events. Also keep in mind that terrorists plan to carry out their cowardly acts without being suspicious. They hope to blend in or perform their acts secretly and away from other people. If they sense that they have been detected, if can substantially change or prevent them from carrying out their intended acts. If something does happen, the response of your company and your drivers will be important to the welfare of your passengers and the general public. If you don't think that your plans and your actions (or a lack thereof) are not subject to the challenge of a lawsuit, think again. Security related issues are being used by plaintiffs against bus companies today. If you haven't received the training materials referenced at the beginning of this article or if you have not attended any security awareness training sessions, you should attempt to obtain these materials or attend future training sessions. Contact the American Bus Association or the United Motorcoach Association if you are a motorcoach operator or contact the National Transit Institute if you are a transit operator. From where I am sitting, you and your employees are the front line of security for the bus transportation system. Your employees awareness and your company's preparation is the best line of defense for bus system security. *** Click here to visit the NADME training web site ***
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