SIA Door Supervisor Mock Test — All Questions

What is the primary role of a door supervisor?

• a.To help keep people and property safe and maintain a secure, orderly environment✓
• b.To act with the full powers of a police officer
• c.To sell drinks to customers
• d.To decide court sentences for offenders

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.Hide the licence in a locker
• b.Wear or display their SIA licence so it can be clearly seen✓
• c.Lend the licence to unlicensed colleagues
• d.Only carry a photocopy

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.Ignore them completely
• b.Shout at them to move on
• c.Explain the reason calmly and politely where it is safe to do so, without discriminating✓
• d.Refuse based on their race or religion

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.Whenever they feel like it
• b.Only if the customer is rude
• c.Only when it is reasonable, proportionate and necessary in the circumstances, such as in lawful self-defence or ejection✓
• d.Never, under any circumstances

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.Causes another to fear immediate unlawful violence, even without physical contact✓
• b.Only when there is serious injury
• c.Only if a weapon is used
• d.Only in a private home

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.Anyone wearing a coat
• b.People paying by card
• c.Customers who ask for water
• 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.Physical restraint
• b.Calm communication and de-escalation, using active listening and non-threatening body language✓
• c.Shouting louder than the other person
• d.Threatening the person with the police

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.The exact words only
• b.Written notices
• c.Non-verbal signals such as body language, facial expression and tone of voice✓
• 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.Look intimidating
• b.Block the exit
• c.Start a fight
• d.Give you time and space to react safely and shows you are not being threatening✓

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 last resort, used only when necessary and proportionate and when other options have failed or are unsuitable✓
• b.The first thing to try in any dispute
• c.A punishment for rude customers
• 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 can cause positional asphyxia, where the person cannot breathe properly, which can be fatal✓
• c.It is only a problem if they complain
• 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.Tighten the hold
• b.Ignore it as an excuse
• c.Immediately reduce or release the restraint, reposition them and seek medical help if needed✓
• 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.Force them to be searched
• b.Search them secretly
• c.Detain them until they agree
• d.Refuse them entry, because a search generally requires their consent and refusal can be grounds to refuse entry✓

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.Carried out by a member of the same sex, with the person's consent and a witness present✓
• b.Done as roughly as possible
• c.Carried out in secret with no record
• d.Performed only on certain nationalities

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.Keep them
• b.Follow the venue's drugs policy: preserve the item, record the find, and hand it to the police✓
• c.Give them back to the customer
• 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.Give them alcohol
• b.Sit them upright in a chair
• c.Place them in the recovery position and monitor their breathing✓
• d.Leave them lying on their back and walk away

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.Finish serving customers
• b.Lock all the doors
• c.Collect the takings first
• d.Help direct people calmly to the nearest safe exit and assembly point, using their knowledge of the layout✓

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.Preserve life and keep yourself and others safe, then call the emergency services✓
• b.Protect the venue's stock first
• c.Avoid getting involved
• 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.Freeze, film and share
• b.Run, Hide, Tell: move away to a safe place, hide if you cannot escape, then tell the police✓
• c.Approach the attacker to negotiate
• d.Sound the fire alarm and gather everyone in one room

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.Nothing to think about
• b.A reason to challenge them aggressively
• c.Possible hostile reconnaissance, which you should report through the correct channels✓
• d.A reason to close the venue immediately

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.Not touch or move it, clear people away from the area and report it to the police✓
• b.Open it to look for a name
• c.Shake it to check the contents
• d.Move it to the lost-property office

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.