UNSEEN BURDENS
By Dr Orlando Mardner
A powerful exposure of the mental, emotional, and operational pressures carried by private security officers — pressures the industry has normalised and ignored for decades.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Unseen Burdens reveals the psychological reality of life on the frontline of private security. Drawing on real cases, lived experience, and sector-wide evidence, the book exposes the long hours, chronic stress, violence, discrimination, and isolation faced by officers across the UK and beyond. It shows how structural neglect, low pay, poor support, and a culture of silence have created a hidden mental-health crisis in one of society’s largest workforces. This volume is the sector’s first documented call for recognition, understanding, and reform.
CONTENT SUMMARY
CHAPTERS
- The Weight Behind the Uniform
- The Silent Crisis No One Tracks
- Trauma, Hyper-Vigilance & Burnout
- The Human Cost of Low-Status Work
- Leadership Failures & Cultural Blind Spots
- Building Safer Teams
- The Officer’s Path to Stability
- Reform Starts Here
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
Security officers, door supervisors, lone workers, supervisors, HR teams, unions, training providers, mental-health professionals, researchers, and policymakers.
WHY THIS BOOK MATTERS
Because private security is a high-risk profession without a high-risk support system. Unseen Burdens gives the industry its first honest mirror — and forces leadership, regulators, and corporations to confront the crisis they have ignored for far too long.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Orlando Mardner is a security executive, author, and industry reform strategist. He leads Synterna Group Holdings and PSA Global Academy, and serves nationally with the Security Industry Federation (SIF). He is the architect of the SSPM framework and a recognised voice on the convergence of physical, digital, personnel, and intelligence-led security.