SIA Door Supervisor Mock Test — All Questions
21 questions
What is the primary role of a door supervisor?
- a.To decide court sentences for offenders
- b.To act with the full powers of a police officer
- c.To sell drinks to customers
- d.To help keep people and property safe and maintain a secure, orderly environment✓
A door supervisor's core role is protecting people and property, controlling entry and exit, and keeping the environment safe and orderly. They are private citizens, not police officers, and have no special legal powers beyond those of any member of the public.
While working, an SIA-licensed door supervisor must normally:
- a.Wear or display their SIA licence so it can be clearly seen✓
- b.Hide the licence in a locker
- c.Only carry a photocopy
- d.Lend the licence to unlicensed colleagues
SIA licence conditions require the licence to be displayed while working in a licensable role, usually worn on the outer clothing. Working without a valid, visible licence is a criminal offence.
A customer asks why they are being refused entry. The most professional response is to:
- a.Refuse based on their race or religion
- b.Explain the reason calmly and politely where it is safe to do so, without discriminating✓
- c.Ignore them completely
- d.Shout at them to move on
Refusals must be handled calmly, politely and lawfully. Giving a clear, non-discriminatory reason reduces conflict. Refusing entry on grounds such as race, religion, sex or disability is unlawful discrimination.
When may a door supervisor use force against a person?
- a.Never, under any circumstances
- b.Only if the customer is rude
- c.Whenever they feel like it
- d.Only when it is reasonable, proportionate and necessary in the circumstances, such as in lawful self-defence or ejection✓
Force must always be reasonable, proportionate and necessary, for example in self-defence, defence of others or lawfully removing someone. Using more force than the situation requires can amount to a criminal assault.
In law, a common assault can occur when a person:
- a.Only in a private home
- b.Only if a weapon is used
- c.Only when there is serious injury
- d.Causes another to fear immediate unlawful violence, even without physical contact✓
Assault is causing someone to fear immediate unlawful force; battery is the actual unlawful application of force. Contact is not required for an assault, which is why threatening gestures can be unlawful.
Under licensing law, it is an offence to sell alcohol to:
- a.People paying by card
- b.Customers who ask for water
- c.Anyone wearing a coat
- d.A person who is drunk, or to someone under 18✓
Licensing law makes it an offence to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk, or to sell or supply alcohol to someone under 18. Door and bar staff share responsibility for preventing these sales.
What is usually the most effective first approach to managing conflict?
- a.Threatening the person with the police
- b.Physical restraint
- c.Calm communication and de-escalation, using active listening and non-threatening body language✓
- d.Shouting louder than the other person
De-escalation through calm, respectful communication resolves most conflict without force. Active listening, an open posture and a controlled tone help reduce a person's anger. Physical intervention is only ever a last resort.
Research on communication suggests that when dealing with an angry person, a great deal of the message is carried by:
- a.Written notices
- b.Non-verbal signals such as body language, facial expression and tone of voice✓
- c.The exact words only
- d.The colour of your uniform
Much of face-to-face communication is non-verbal. Your body language, facial expression and tone can calm or inflame a situation, so keeping them open, calm and non-threatening is a key conflict-management skill.
Keeping a safe distance (a reaction gap) from a potentially aggressive person mainly helps to:
- a.Block the exit
- b.Give you time and space to react safely and shows you are not being threatening✓
- c.Start a fight
- d.Look intimidating
Maintaining a reaction gap gives you time to assess and respond if the person becomes aggressive, and a non-threatening distance is less likely to provoke them. It is a core personal-safety principle.
In physical intervention theory, physical intervention should be seen as:
- a.A punishment for rude customers
- b.The first thing to try in any dispute
- c.A last resort, used only when necessary and proportionate and when other options have failed or are unsuitable✓
- d.Something to do for entertainment
Physical intervention is always a last resort after communication and de-escalation. Any force used must be reasonable, proportionate and necessary, and must stop as soon as it is no longer needed.
Why is restraining a person face-down or putting pressure on their neck, chest or back especially dangerous?
- a.It creases their clothing
- b.It is only a problem if they complain
- c.It can cause positional asphyxia, where the person cannot breathe properly, which can be fatal✓
- d.It has no real risk
Positional asphyxia occurs when a person's position stops them breathing normally, and it can quickly cause death. Restraint theory teaches you to avoid face-down holds and pressure on the neck, chest and back, and to watch breathing constantly.
During any restraint, if the person says they cannot breathe or shows signs of distress, you should:
- a.Immediately reduce or release the restraint, reposition them and seek medical help if needed✓
- b.Tighten the hold
- c.Ignore it as an excuse
- d.Continue until they stop moving
Complaints of not being able to breathe and signs of distress are medical warning signs and must never be dismissed. Release or ease the hold at once, move the person into a safer position, and get medical help if there is any doubt.
A venue operates a search policy as a condition of entry. If a customer refuses to be searched, you can normally:
- a.Search them secretly
- b.Refuse them entry, because a search generally requires their consent and refusal can be grounds to refuse entry✓
- c.Detain them until they agree
- d.Force them to be searched
As a private citizen a door supervisor cannot search someone without their consent. Where searching is a clearly displayed condition of entry, a customer who refuses can lawfully be refused entry rather than searched by force.
To keep a search respectful and reduce complaints, a search should ideally be:
- a.Performed only on certain nationalities
- b.Done as roughly as possible
- c.Carried out by a member of the same sex, with the person's consent and a witness present✓
- d.Carried out in secret with no record
Best practice is same-sex searching, with consent, in view of a witness or CCTV, and conducted professionally and without discrimination. Records help protect both the customer and the door supervisor.
If you find what you believe to be illegal drugs during a search, the correct action is to:
- a.Give them back to the customer
- b.Keep them
- c.Follow the venue's drugs policy: preserve the item, record the find, and hand it to the police✓
- d.Accuse everyone nearby
Suspected drugs should be handled according to the venue's policy, which normally means securing the item, logging the find and handing it to the police. You should not keep, return or dispose of it yourself.
A customer collapses and is unconscious but breathing normally. While waiting for an ambulance you should:
- a.Place them in the recovery position and monitor their breathing✓
- b.Give them alcohol
- c.Leave them lying on their back and walk away
- d.Sit them upright in a chair
An unconscious person who is breathing should be placed in the recovery position to keep the airway open and prevent choking, then monitored until help arrives. Call the emergency services and only act within your first-aid training.
During a fire or emergency evacuation at the venue, a door supervisor's key role is to:
- a.Lock all the doors
- b.Collect the takings first
- c.Help direct people calmly to the nearest safe exit and assembly point, using their knowledge of the layout✓
- d.Finish serving customers
Door staff should know the venue's exits, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and help move people out calmly and safely. Preserving life is the priority, so exits must be kept clear and usable.
When faced with any emergency, your overriding priority should be to:
- a.Protect the venue's stock first
- b.Avoid getting involved
- c.Preserve life and keep yourself and others safe, then call the emergency services✓
- d.Record it on social media
The priority order in an emergency is safety of life first: protect yourself and others, summon professional help, and only then deal with property. Acting within your competence keeps everyone, including you, safer.
In counter-terrorism awareness for security staff (ACT), the recommended response to a weapons or firearms attack is:
- a.Run, Hide, Tell: move away to a safe place, hide if you cannot escape, then tell the police✓
- b.Sound the fire alarm and gather everyone in one room
- c.Freeze, film and share
- d.Approach the attacker to negotiate
The nationally recognised guidance for a weapons attack is Run, Hide, Tell. Get yourself and others away if you can, hide and stay quiet if you cannot, and call 999 with information when it is safe. ACT stands for Action Counters Terrorism.
You notice a person repeatedly filming entrances, exits and security arrangements and taking an unusual interest in them. This may be:
- a.A reason to challenge them aggressively
- b.A reason to close the venue immediately
- c.Possible hostile reconnaissance, which you should report through the correct channels✓
- d.Nothing to think about
Hostile reconnaissance is when someone gathers information to plan an attack, such as studying security, entrances and routines. Stay alert, record what you can and report it to your supervisor and the police rather than confronting the person.
You find an unattended bag in a busy area and cannot identify an owner. Applying the HOT principle, you should consider whether it is Hidden, Obviously suspicious or Typical, and:
- a.Shake it to check the contents
- b.Not touch or move it, clear people away from the area and report it to the police✓
- c.Move it to the lost-property office
- d.Open it to look for a name
The HOT check (Hidden, Obviously suspicious, Typical) helps assess an unattended item. If in doubt, do not touch or move it, keep people away, and report it so the police can respond. Never open or move a suspicious item.