Using its M-Trainer platform, the Security and Intelligence Services (SIS)—India’s biggest player in physical security, and second biggest in the area of cash logistics and facility management—has trained almost its entire security staff on pandemic-related operations.
Mr. Rituraj Kishore Sinha, group MD, SIS, said that the M-Trainer provides digital training to the staff, primarily via smartphones. “The M-Trainer uses short videos and then a questionnaire on a mobile app. In addition, we constantly provide behavioural training, how to file reports, and so on.”
SIS had started the M-Trainer platform last year when the first lockdown was announced and the private security industry was declared as ‘essential services’ by the home ministry, on March 24, 2000. “We knew our manpower would need to work through the lockdown, so the first thing we did was to educate them on how to stay safe. Soon after the first lockdown, we started what we call the SIS Circle of Safety, where we did customised training including visitor management system, antimicrobial treatment, Covid-19 compliance, vehicle disinfection, etc,” Sinha said.
While more than 80% of the SIS staff has access to a smartphone, which allows ready access to the M-Trainer, others who don’t have smartphones were provided training by the company’s mobile training vans.
A year hence, this training has continued. Sinha said that during the current second wave this training has assumed greater importance. “Now, the training content changes every week … we are running campaigns, not just alerting our staff on the second wave, but are also training them on how to detect low oxygen levels for anybody, how to organise basic support in case somebody needs it in an emergency, and so on. Right now, the training is happening on a live basis. Whatever needs to be taught to our staff is being pushed on the digital platform,” he said.
SIS currently employs 2.2 lakh personnel deployed across India. Of these, 1.55 lakh are in private security, 55,000 in facility management, and 10,000 in cash logistics (SIS is also present in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, where it employs another 10,000 people). All the content that has been created during this emergency period for existing security guards has also flown into the company’s regular induction training programmes, at its 20 residential training academies in 14 states, added Sinha.
