CCTV operators in most UK monitoring centres are working long hours which can prove detrimental to their performance and reduce the effectiveness of their clients’ video security systems. And the cumulative effect of regular 12-hour shifts can have a negative health impact as well.
That’s the view of Kerry Jones, co-founder and director of Wigan-based independent monitoring centre Professional Surveillance Management (PSM). PSM is the first remote monitoring CCTV control room company to achieve the Secured by Design ‘Police Preferred’ specification, and also holds Gold accreditation from the National Security Inspectorate (NSI).
“It’s traditional and commonplace for CCTV security operations to work 12-hour shifts,” Jones says. “They are usually organised in four days on, four off patterns. At the end of a single 12 hour shift it’s pretty normal to feel fatigued and unable to focus. That’s the way the human brain works.
“During a 12-hour shift, the fatigue tends to kick in during that stretch between 9 and 12 hours. For a CCTV operator in a monitoring centre, that can be dangerous, because focus and attention to the information presented to them is the job. If we miss a criminal incident because of fatigue, that means the security system the client is relying on is not working. The operator is the link between the technology and the police. They are a key component of the whole system.”
For more information, visit PSM’s website at www.psmrvrc.co.uk
