Earth Day Guidance From SIA’s ESG Advisory Board

The Security Industry Association Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Advisory Board members had a great time presenting at ISC West 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this month. Dr. Jill Frack, Amy Musanti and Dr. Alka Khungar presented “Sustainability, Safety & Security: An Inclusive Approach for ESG.”

We want to share some of the key highlights from the presentation. We surveyed the attendees to determine how many work in the ESG area right now, and 60% of attendees were not currently working in ESG. The survey asked what some reasons people do not have an ESG focus at their organization are, and some replies were “international laws,” “budget” and “not sure where to start.”

Some of the presentation’s key points were sustainability, social initiatives and how you can contribute as a safety or security professional. Amy covered materiality analysis and stakeholder engagement and provided some examples: business compliance, human capital development, responsible acquisitions and sustainable supply chains.

Alka shared examples of governance initiatives impacting ESG: organizational policies, certifications, health and safety and parental leave. With the administration’s recent removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, programs that receive federal funding are restructuring to update to remain compliant. With organizational governance, many sources can influence regulatory compliance and impact how organizations’ systems and processes function.

Jill addressed different types of workplace safety. You might hear some about cybersecurity and workplace safety through regular training. There are other areas depending on what markets you serve, but we addressed these additional types: biological, chemical, ergonomic, emotional and driver safety.

When people hear about ESG, they often don’t understand how it truly impacts all business operations. The presentation covered some of the impacts and influences of ESG within the security industry. Several governance requirements can impact business operations, whether federal, state, local, insurance or company initiatives. With compliance reporting, there is no longer a singular reporting structure. End-user customers can dictate what is allowed or who they will purchase from based on production methods or country of origin. Insurance companies now require specific risk-averse strategies for the insurance renewal process. These are interconnected and weave a web of items that organizations must address regarding the ESG Strategy. The chart here illustrates how the relationship reporting requirements have changed and can go in all directions.

When it comes to ESG within the security industry, we often hear about what the manufacturers are doing as it relates to raw materials, but Integrators are now having to do compliance reporting to end users for how their ESG strategy is being executed within the organization. Also, risk is being assessed as part of the policies and procedures, which relates to the governance side of ESG. There is a governance, risk and compliance score, which is being utilized to assess how effective an organization’s risk management efforts are. Regarding compliance, organizations are being cautious about making exceptions for vendors who do not meet the minimum requirements, as it increases their risk score and insurance costs. 

On this Earth Day (April 22, 2025) we wanted to provide some opportunities for you to contribute to the Security Industry Association’s impact by giving back to environmental initiatives. It doesn’t matter how big or small your organization is – everyone can make a difference by helping out!  

Have you ever considered how much power or water you waste? Depending on where you live, there might be water restrictions due to drought conditions or even programs to reduce energy usage for home heating, ventilation and air conditioning during business hours. When it comes to environmental initiatives, reducing water or electricity usage could contribute to the offsetting of greenhouse gases.

We hear about organizations trying to incorporate green buildings into their corporate structure to reduce dependencies on electric power or installing water-saving devices, but have you thought about the positive relationship between these two items? We were always taught not to use electricity near water for fear of electrocution, so most people don’t think about the connected positive relationship. Water can be used to power hydroelectric plants or cool thermoelectric power plants. Power plants have been reducing their greenhouse gases through different production methods. Still, consumer demand drives the production required to ensure people can power the items needed to function.

We can look at some of the ESG measures being taken in Las Vegas. As we look at lessons learned, we see how some hotels are changing their lighting to be more environmentally friendly. The Venetian Expo did some renovations and obtained LEED certification. Hotels are requesting people reuse towels and bedding to reduce water usage for laundry. There are signs in all the bathrooms regarding reporting sex trafficking, which is a social issue in Las Vegas. Hotels that used to do water displays every 15 minutes for 14 hours a day have now had to scale back to reduce the amount of water usage and waste as an environmental resource and governance requirement from the local government. 

As we look towards future initiatives of giving back to our community, we invite you to save the date of Friday, June 6, 2025, for the Security Industry Community Service Day. This relates to the social portion of ESG as it allows you to host a team-building event for your organization. Also, it is an excellent opportunity to have people from your organization volunteer and make a difference in your community by giving back.

One suggestion for Security Industry Community Service Day is to partner with non-profits that might not be able to afford new equipment. You can recycle old equipment that still has a useful life. If you donate the professional installation services, you can help the nonprofit by adding value to its organization with security features it otherwise would not have been able to afford.

We can all make a difference in our world in many ways. We would love to hear from you about personal initiatives or corporate initiatives that your company is taking related to ESG.

Learn more about the ESG Advisory Board and how you can get involved here.