This Sunday 24 July is International Security Officers Day, a chance to recognise the extraordinary work the Monash Health Security Services team puts in 24/7 to keep all of us safe.
To celebrate International Security Officers Day, we’re shining the spotlight on Gavin Haldane, Security Officer in Charge. Gavin is an experienced Security Officer who has worked at all major Monash Health sites, and now works predominantly at Monash Medical Centre, Clayton.
We asked Gavin what it takes to make a great security officer.
“In my opinion, it would be someone that can follow instructions but also have the mind to think for themselves in what they do within the bounds of what Monash Health has set out in our policies.”
Gavin also emphasised the importance of listening and compassion.
“You try to get the point of view from the person, and you try to get what’s happened with staff and then you try to get to a middle ground between the two of them,” says Gavin.
No two days look the same in the Security Services team.
“To be honest, what we do everyday varies,” says Gavin. “You’ll have some guys that will be down in the Level 1 office. They take care of a lot of the administrative tasks we do, like issuing access cards, handling lost property, replying to emails.”
“We also respond to codes throughout the hospital,” he says. “To me, the rewarding part is all the people I get to deal with. We see young kids and we interact with elderly patients with dementia. We patrol the entire site and engage with employees from all areas.”
The pandemic has been a challenging time across the health service, especially patient facing employees like Security Officers.
“We continue to take our normal precautions,” says Gavin. “A lot of people, once they hear restrictions are easing, they automatically think that the hospital has removed restrictions as well. So we have to politely remind them.”
Steve Bills, Director of Security and Emergency Management at Monash Health, says that security within a health facility is a very specialised field.
“The skill of our security officers to communicate with and de-escalate highly agitated people, while displaying empathy, compassion and understanding of the circumstance is a credit to them and the vital role they play in the organisation,” says Steve.
In the lead up to International Security Officers Day, we extend a big thank you to the whole Security Services team for all the work that they do.
Approved by Adjunct Professor Katrina Nankervis