Comprised of over 200 members from 24 countries, the technical committee includes a balance of clients, service providers, non-governmental, and rights groups from the public and private sector.

 

“This remarkable international effort demonstrates the importance of this industry sector around the globe.  It brings together disparate interested parties to assure quality of services provided by PSCs while maintaining the safety and security of their operations within a framework that ensures respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” says Dr. Marc Siegel, Commissioner, ASIS International Global Standards Initiative and Chairman of the Technical Committee. 

 

Private security companies (PSCs) and other private security service providers have become critical elements for supporting peace and stability efforts in regions where the capacity of societal institutions have become overwhelmed by human and natural caused disruptive events.   PSCs operating in areas of weakened governance need to provide essential services and conduct their business with an obligation to carry out due diligence to prevent incidents, mitigate the consequences of incidents, report them when they occur, and take corrective actions, as well as preventative actions to prevent a reoccurrence. 

 

The ASIS PSC.01 Standard will provide the principles and requirements for a quality assurance management system for private sector security organizations to abide by and demonstrate accountability to internationally recognized norms of civil and human rights while providing quality assurance in the provision of their products and services.  It provides auditable requirements based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act model for third-party certification.  By following the proven ISO model for management system standards, PSCs can integrate this Standard with their current management system approaches and focus efforts to better manage their risk and prevent the occurrence of undesirable events.

 

“The Standard will raise the bar for industry best practices consistent with the goal of simultaneously promoting stability and respect for human and civil rights.”  says Dr. Siegel.  “The Standard will provide clear benchmarks for assuring accountability and improvement of performance; and serve as a differentiator for companies that provide quality services and products.  A growing use of contract services by governments and companies around the globe needs an international initiative like this to set the standards of quality and ethical services.”