It’s often assumed that the role of a condo concierge security team is to not only provide an outstanding resident experience but to react when an incident occurs. That’s only partly true. When done right, a security provider should be training its guards in pre-emptive strategies to foresee and prevent problems before they can occur. That’s the critical missing link that not only helps ensure risk mitigation and minimizes legal liability across a condominium community, but also alleviates budgetary pressures and enhances a condominium property manager’s overall value proposition.

The pre-emptive and reactive approaches should be carefully balanced. The former with customized strategies designed to service the on-site needs of a specific property, and the latter to launch an effective response when the unavoidable occurs. But how?

The response must be prompt, robust, and thorough. Failing to take action exposes a condo to legal liabilities and puts residents at risk.

The pre-emptive approach to risk mitigation

Pre-emptive risk mitigation is about taking the time to identify and eliminate potential safety hazards or security vulnerabilities across a community. This could involve everything from tightening a property’s cybersecurity defenses to actively seeking out slip and fall or other potential injury-causing issues. Reputable security firms build risk mitigation into their service offering. Their guards are required to help address danger points, say, by removing on-site safety hazards, or deploying warning signs in situations where a threat can’t be removed.

Of course, one of the most important factors in pre-empting risk is active observation. Condominium security concierge teams that take an active approach to property monitoring, documentation, resident interaction, and prediction—essentially thinking a step ahead, making their presence felt and discreetly poking into corners even when they don’t have to—are the ones that catch issues before they can become a problem for property managers, condo boards and residents.

Unfortunately, many security providers are satisfied having their personnel sit at a lobby desk through shifts, falling asleep on the job or being generally disengaged in their duties or from the people they’ve been hired to protect. That’s simply not how you proactively guard a property.

One of the most effective ways to build and maintain that pre-emptive approach to guarding is through accountability.  A security firm’s managers should constantly visit sites, stage impromptu spot-checks, liaise with condo boards and property managers, and gain an understanding of the characteristics of the site, its resident community, and their specific needs.

Reacting when needed

Unforeseen circumstances require an immediate and appropriate response. That could involve a range of potential events—some merely inconvenient, others more acute and threatening. An on-site accident, for example, would fall into the latter category. A slip and fall victim could require immediate first aid and may need an ambulance. A condo concierge security team will often be the first responder and will need to make that call while documenting the situation to ensure that—should litigation occur—the facts surrounding the entire event are carefully and accurately documented.

This also helps to mitigate risk associated with malicious, frivolous litigation when no real injury has occurred, or to clarify the record when incorrect information is put forward. Importantly, a security provider’s supervisors should be on-call and available at all times to respond and provide assistance when an incident response team needs additional guidance. Supervisors must also be available to attend on-site to offer operational support, especially when the situation requires escalation.

A rapid response is a solution to address unforeseeable challenges as they arise.

Needless to say, that response must be prompt, robust, and thorough. Failing to take action as needed exposes a condominium community to additional legal liability and puts residents’ safety and security at risk. Delivering that level of service is also relatively straightforward—if guards are prepared.

The importance of pre-deployment training

The only truly effective condo concierge security teams are the ones that are properly trained—in Ontario, for example, that means completing the government-mandated 40-hour guard certification program—prior to their on-site deployment. That training needs to include both practical and theoretical elements but should be sustained. Simply providing guards with a one-time briefing on a condo property isn’t enough to ensure they can do their job effectively for months or years, which is the duration of many security engagements.

A failure to conduct pre-deployment training creates major vulnerabilities in the event of an on-site emergency. If guards are unfamiliar with the property, emergency muster points, how to use the fire alarm panel, or what circumstances should trigger a call to police, fire department, or paramedics, successful outcomes can be easily compromised.

Pre-deployment training should provide the full suite of tools that guards need to address daily challenges. That includes instruction on a fully operational fire panel, fire response procedures, risk mitigation, documentation, and service level expectations—not only how guards will interact with property managers and residents, but how they can help enhance those stakeholders’ professional or residential experience in every way. The security provider should be aiming to build a long-term relationship with their clients by understanding their unique requirements and tailoring their training to address each one in a deliberate manner. That also reduces the amount of time-consuming, on-site training that’s required to get guards up to speed.

Lastly, recertification programs in areas such as first aid/CPR/AED, along with use-of-force and non-violent crisis intervention training, can help both in emergency response and de-escalation—the latter providing a security deterrence presence and offering guards the tools they need to enforce the Trespass to Property Act.

It’s impossible for any security firm to be completely proactive in its approach to risk mitigation. At times, a rapid response is a solution to address unforeseeable challenges as they arise. But the most reliable providers are those that balance their approach, doing whatever it takes to prevent issues before they occur, then reacting quickly to ensure they don’t grow into even greater challenges.

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Winston Stewart, President and CEO

Wincon Security