Why Security Officers are Susceptible to Covid-19

By Staff Reporter, 29 June, 2020

A study sponsored by Corps Security to discover the reasons for high reported death rates for security personnel from the new coronavirus has identified multiple contributory factors.

Researchers from Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International analysed official data sources for clues to the mortality rate which was reported in May at 45.7 deaths per 100,000 for security officers in the United Kingdom by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Their research made the following key findings:

However, their risk factor relating to exposure was not rated as high as healthcare personnel; the level of virus found in healthcare settings is much greater than among the general public yet death rates for healthcare staff are lower than for security officers.

Older people appear to be more vulnerable to Covid-19 compared to their younger counterparts and experience less favourable outcomes.

Analysis of licences issued by the Security Industry Association (SIA) in 2019 suggests that 21% were obtained by those over 55 years of age, compared to the UK average for all occupations of 19% of the workforce in that age group.

Yet 42% of those with a manned guarding licence, were issued to those over 55 years of age.

More men than women have been affected by Covid-19 and because approximately 90% of security personnel are men, the risk factor for the sector overall is higher than occupations with a lower proportion of males.

Not all groups in the UK have been affected by Covid-19 equally and ethnicity appears to be a significant risk factor.

Nearly a third of security officers are from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and vulnerability is linked to both genetic, social and economic factors.

Within this group, Black Africans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis appear to be particularly vulnerable and they are overrepresented among security officers.

The very nature of the role of security officers influences their risk to Covid-19.

Being a frontline key worker may mean encountering conflict when trying to enforce Covid-19 guidelines; this may make social distancing more difficult.

Visit https://bit.ly/3fZ09PD to download the full report.

What does seem clear though from this preliminary research is that gender, ethnicity, the nature of the job have all been seen to increase risks and these are all characteristics of security officers."

Mike Bullock, Corps Security CEO, adds: "The ONS data made for difficult reading for the security profession.

We wanted to know why security officers were so affected by the virus so we could better support and protect our people.

"This report gives us valuable insight and we’re delighted to share it with the wider security sector so we can work together and do all we can as an industry to ensure no more security officers die as a result of this terrible virus."

Visit https://bit.ly/3fZ09PD to download the full report.