Release date: 4th January 2010
National Occupational Standards (NOS) describe the knowledge and skills that people need to perform a job of work. They have over 115 uses, including designing training programmes, assessing the skills of the workforce, writing job descriptions and undertaking staff appraisals to name a few. They are vital to the private security industry, but are only of use if they are accurate and up-to-date in describing the knowledge and skills required to work in this ever-changing sector.
Skills for Security have been working with industry representatives to review the standards, and now we need the views of the wider security community on what has been developed.
Ruth Oliver, Standards Development Manager at Skills for Security comments: 'National Occupational Standards are a free resource for employers and training providers. They provide a wealth of benefits to the industry and also help to ensure that a benchmark for high standards is retained throughout training and qualifications within this area. We urge all security professionals to comment on these draft NOS as this is their opportunity to ensure that they meet their requirements.'
We have four suites of NOS currently out for consultation, the only people who can ensure that they are accurate, are the people who work in the various specialisms. If you work in the CCTV, Investigation or CViT sectors, please visit the website www.skillsforsecurity.org.uk/nos and click on the consultation link. Please can you help us review both your own standards and the "core skills" standards, and give us you feedback on both. If you work in any other area of security we still need your input on the "core skills" standards, because these are relevant across the whole of the industry.
