SPSOAUNION
SPSOA Building Service Security Division
SPSOA Building Service Security Division
www.spsoa.org/#!spsoa-building-service-security-division/ca4
The most common jobs in facilities management are found in building service and security guard occupations. Building service and security guard positions in New York City are found in residential and commercial buildings, and public institutions, such as schools, airports and hospitals.
Over 160,000 New Yorkers are employed in building service and security guard occupations, making this one of the larger employment segments in the city.
Building Service Security Guards
As indicated in the table above, the NYS Department of Labor projects that the number of security guard positions will grow by 21% between 1998 and 2008. Note that this 1998 projection might turn out to be on the low side, given heightened security concerns in New York City. During the current
recession, the industry containing security guard businesses increased employment by 8.7% from December of 2000 (the peak month for total NYC employment) to January of 2003. In this period when NYC has lost nearly 6% of its total job base, the investigation and security services industry had
the largest employment gain (+3,500) of any private industry other than health, social or educational services.
Security guards in New York City made a median hourly wage of $8.46 in 1998, with the middle half of all workers earning between $6.75 and $12.39 an hour.
The most significant single employer of security guards is the real estate industry, which employs guards in commercial and residential buildings. In addition, over half of the security guards in New York City are employed by firms that provide contractual protective services throughout the economy
(public and private sector). In the Standard Industrial Classification system, these firms were included in the miscellaneous business services industry group.
This is significant in the sense that over half of the security guards in New York City do not work directly for the institution in which they are placed, but instead work for contractors who in turn place them in retail and other settings.
Commercial office buildings range in size from less than 1,000 to more than 1 million square feet. About 2,000 buildings in the United States(less than 1% of the total number) have more than 500,000 square feet of floor space, and about 7,000 (nearly 1%) have more than 200,000 square feet. The amount of space in these larger buildings is significant: nearly 30% of all commercial office floor space is in buildings with more than 200,000 square feet.
Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activity
Terrorists have a wide variety of weapons and tactics available to achieve their objectives. Specific threats of most concern to commercial office buildings include:
• Improvised explosive devices
• Arson
• Small arms attack
• Assassination/kidnapping
• Chemical/biological/radiological agent attack
• Aircraft attack
• Cyber attack
Terrorist activity indicators are observable anomalies or incidents that may precede a terrorist attack. Indicators of an imminent attack requiring immediate action may include the following:
• Persons in crowded areas wearing unusually bulky clothing that might conceal suicide explosives.
• Vehicles illegally parked near facility buildings or near places where large numbers of people gather.
• Unattended packages (e.g., backpack, briefcase, box) that might contain explosives.
• Suspicious packages and/or letters received by mail that might contain explosives or chemical/biological/ radiological agents.
• Evidence of unauthorized access to HVAC areas of a building.
Indicators of potential surveillance by terrorists include:
• Persons using or carrying video/camera/observation equipment in or near the facility over an extended period.
• Persons discovered with facility maps, photos, or diagrams with critical assets highlighted or notes regarding infrastructure or listing of personnel.
• Persons parking, standing, or loitering in the same area over a multiple-day period with no apparent reasonable explanation.
• Persons questioning facility employees off-site about practices pertaining to the facility and its operations, or an increase in personal e-mail, telephone, faxes, or postal mail requesting information about the facility or one of its
key assets.
• Facility employees inquiring about facility operations, equipment, assets, or security measures about which they should have no job-related interest.
• An increase in buildings left unsecured or doors left
unlocked, when normally secured and locked at all times
SPSOA Building Service Security Division
SPSOA Building Service Security Division
www.spsoa.org/#!spsoa-building-service-security-division/ca4
The most common jobs in facilities management are found in building service and security guard occupations. Building service and security guard positions in New York City are found in residential and commercial buildings, and public institutions, such as schools, airports and hospitals.
Over 160,000 New Yorkers are employed in building service and security guard occupations, making this one of the larger employment segments in the city.
Building Service Security Guards
As indicated in the table above, the NYS Department of Labor projects that the number of security guard positions will grow by 21% between 1998 and 2008. Note that this 1998 projection might turn out to be on the low side, given heightened security concerns in New York City. During the current
recession, the industry containing security guard businesses increased employment by 8.7% from December of 2000 (the peak month for total NYC employment) to January of 2003. In this period when NYC has lost nearly 6% of its total job base, the investigation and security services industry had
the largest employment gain (+3,500) of any private industry other than health, social or educational services.
Security guards in New York City made a median hourly wage of $8.46 in 1998, with the middle half of all workers earning between $6.75 and $12.39 an hour.
The most significant single employer of security guards is the real estate industry, which employs guards in commercial and residential buildings. In addition, over half of the security guards in New York City are employed by firms that provide contractual protective services throughout the economy
(public and private sector). In the Standard Industrial Classification system, these firms were included in the miscellaneous business services industry group.
This is significant in the sense that over half of the security guards in New York City do not work directly for the institution in which they are placed, but instead work for contractors who in turn place them in retail and other settings.
Commercial office buildings range in size from less than 1,000 to more than 1 million square feet. About 2,000 buildings in the United States(less than 1% of the total number) have more than 500,000 square feet of floor space, and about 7,000 (nearly 1%) have more than 200,000 square feet. The amount of space in these larger buildings is significant: nearly 30% of all commercial office floor space is in buildings with more than 200,000 square feet.
Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activity
Terrorists have a wide variety of weapons and tactics available to achieve their objectives. Specific threats of most concern to commercial office buildings include:
• Improvised explosive devices
• Arson
• Small arms attack
• Assassination/kidnapping
• Chemical/biological/radiological agent attack
• Aircraft attack
• Cyber attack
Terrorist activity indicators are observable anomalies or incidents that may precede a terrorist attack. Indicators of an imminent attack requiring immediate action may include the following:
• Persons in crowded areas wearing unusually bulky clothing that might conceal suicide explosives.
• Vehicles illegally parked near facility buildings or near places where large numbers of people gather.
• Unattended packages (e.g., backpack, briefcase, box) that might contain explosives.
• Suspicious packages and/or letters received by mail that might contain explosives or chemical/biological/ radiological agents.
• Evidence of unauthorized access to HVAC areas of a building.
Indicators of potential surveillance by terrorists include:
• Persons using or carrying video/camera/observation equipment in or near the facility over an extended period.
• Persons discovered with facility maps, photos, or diagrams with critical assets highlighted or notes regarding infrastructure or listing of personnel.
• Persons parking, standing, or loitering in the same area over a multiple-day period with no apparent reasonable explanation.
• Persons questioning facility employees off-site about practices pertaining to the facility and its operations, or an increase in personal e-mail, telephone, faxes, or postal mail requesting information about the facility or one of its
key assets.
• Facility employees inquiring about facility operations, equipment, assets, or security measures about which they should have no job-related interest.
• An increase in buildings left unsecured or doors left
unlocked, when normally secured and locked at all times