GEO facilities are under the oversight of GEO’s Project Development Division located at the Corporate Office. This Division has one dozen subject matter experts in facility design, project management, maintenance and repair, and physical plant operations. The division is led by a Senior Vice President with three decades of facility development and maintenance experience. The Division undertakes all new facility development and oversees physical plant maintenance and repair for all GEO facilities.
Our facilities are maintained to be compliant with life-safety codes, fire protection standards and regulations developed by the National Fire Protections Association (NFPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and American Correctional Association (ACA). GEO employs over 50 safety and risk management professionals and works with a variety of outside consultants who maintain and monitor the safety of all our facilities.
GEO facilities utilize a classification plan to determine the needs and requirements for everyone in our care. The classification plan includes interviews, record reviews and other assessments to determine security levels, vulnerability status, medical requirements, appropriate housing and program assignments, and any special needs. Staff members involved with classification plans include professionals in the fields of medical and mental health care, programming and counseling, religious services, dietary and nutrition, and security.
Furthermore, GEO has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment in our facilities and programs and strictly follows the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
GEO has also implemented policies to provide restrictive housing when necessary, typically limited to those circumstances which threaten the secure and orderly management of each facility. These policies are consistent with policies and standards set by our government agency partners and adhere to all American Correctional Association standards.
GEO staff provide regular supervision in Restrictive Housing Units. All individuals in a Restrictive Housing Unit must be personally observed at least twice per hour. GEO staff utilize the “PIPE Security System,” which provides documentation for the frequency/observation of each cell by a security staff member, utilizing an electronic handheld scanner, or “PIPE,” designed to record rounds in the Restrictive Housing Units.
During each round, security staff touch the handheld PIPE device to the sensor button located on each cell door. Physical contact with the sensor button is required in order for the device to record the cell check. The PIPE device records these rounds and stores the information in the device. At least twice per shift, the information is downloaded from the device to create verifiable documentation of rounds. GEO policy requires that a manual log of all rounds in Restrictive Housing Units also be maintained.
Throughout our operations, GEO has implemented an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Management System that is grounded in Integrated Safety Management. Our health and safety management system and practices apply to all GEO employees and contractors. Through the EHS, we have established objective, quantifiable targets and extensive feedback and reporting mechanisms to achieve continuous improvement in our health and safety performance.
The overall management of GEO’s EHS program is led by GEO’s Corporate Risk Management department, which is comprised of more than 50 professionals with expertise in occupational safety, workers’ compensation and insurance, risk analytics, and environmental issues. Regional Safety Managers are embedded into our operations throughout the United States and provide hands-on, field support for our facilities.
All facilities in the U.S. Secure Services Division also employ a dedicated Fire & Safety Manager responsible for managing the EHS program at the local level. Fire & Safety Managers are formally trained in multiple EHS disciplines, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), along with company and customer required practices.
In addition to organizational and management structure, the following elements are critical to GEO’s ongoing EHS program:
Operational Excellence:
Our organization strives to achieve sustained, effective levels of operational performance. This involves a focus on operations, decision-making, open communication, and systematic approaches to reduce and eliminate the chance of events or situations that may jeopardize the safety and health of employees and/or those in our care.
Individual Responsibility for Workplace Safety:
Every employee at GEO accepts the responsibility for safe operational performance and is trained to be mindful of work conditions that may have an impact on safety.
Compliance Oversight:
Competent, robust, periodic, and independent oversight is an essential source of feedback that can be used to verify safety performance expectations are met and to identify EHS gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Communication and staff engagement:
There are multiple formal and informal channels for communication to and from staff regarding the discovery and mitigation of potential hazards and corrective actions that involve all aspects of workplace safety. We also encourage individuals in our care to be active participants in each facility’s safety program by reporting any issues that may give rise to hazards or injury.
Safety committees are active at each of our facilities and play an integral role in assisting the Fire & Safety Managers and facility management teams, in reducing injuries and hazards associated with facility operations.
Our risk management and safety teams also coordinate closely with facility management in the assessment of catastrophe exposures and development, testing and implementation of continuity plans to maintain operational resiliency. Many GEO facilities are located in regions with exposure to natural hazards, such as hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, windstorms, tornadoes, and floods. Physical plant inspections are conducted on a scheduled basis and are comprehensive to ensure the integrity of the facility and the safety of all individuals in our care and our valued employees.
Focus: Modern facility built to withstand serious weather events.
Completed in 2018, GEO’s 1,000-bed Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas was designed in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards, a globally-recognized symbol of sustainability achievement. Comprised of highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings, the Center is able to withstand a category 5 hurricane and can provide 100 percent auxiliary power in times of emergency.
Individuals in our care at the Montgomery Processing Center have access to enhanced recreational opportunities, including artificial turf soccer fields, shaded pavilions, basketball courts, paved walk path, and handball courts, and the Center features extensive onsite administrative office, courtroom, and support spaces. More information on the Montgomery Processing Center is available on our company website at geogroup.com/GEO-World-Detail/WorldID/57.
Each facility undergoes a hazard assessment every three years conducted by professional engineers to review the soundness of the physical plant, utilities systems, fire, and natural disaster resistance. In addition, each facility undergoes a comprehensive life safety inspection conducted by the relevant State Fire Marshal’s office at least annually.
GEO’s risk management team also is actively involved in addressing other significant exposures, such as widespread and prolonged power outages, political violence, and the rapidly growing threat of cybercrime.
In 2021, among other measures aimed at elevating the company’s protection against potential cyber-related incidents, GEO established a Board-level Committee to provide oversight on these matters. The Cyber Security and Environmental Oversight Committee is empowered and authorized to oversee and guide the Company's efforts regarding cyber security, privacy, and environmental concerns.
Notably, its members are from diverse industries that have implemented state-of-the-art protections against cyber incidents. Their collective insights inform measures being developed, implemented, and continually updated by GEO’s information technology, finance, operations, and risk management departments. Day to day cyber security responsibility rests with our Chief Information Security Officer, who reports to the Committee on a regular basis, and the IT Department. The Department has a data security incident management plan to investigate and remediate any issues that are raised.
GEO facilities take steps to protect the privacy of inmates/residents, clients, and employees, including monthly cyber security training, prohibiting memory storage devices, website restrictions, and requiring additional permissions for certain tasks. GEO takes data security issues seriously, and we have a third party conduct risk assessments and audits of our data security system on a regular basis.
BI Incorporated, like GEO, takes cyber security seriously: conducting monthly vulnerability scans that are initiated by a third party and adhere to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cyber security guidelines. In addition to NIST, BI Incorporated is in the process of obtaining Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification, which provides standardization of security monitoring for cloud products and services.
BI Incorporated also provides training to all employees on privacy and cyber security, conducts background checks, and maintains an administrative hierarchy for accessing information. In addition to these protections, BI Incorporated does not store any of the data collected nor do they analyze the data; this ensures that only the institutions using its devices have access to the information.
GEO also implements specific cyber-related risk management and insurance protocol tools for all GEO contractors, vendors, and suppliers.
GEO places great value on its relationships with its numerous and varied contractors, vendors, and suppliers; accordingly, the cyber security requirements are designed to protect them, as well as GEO, its employees and government clients from computer viruses, ransomware, malware, phishing and other attacks and potential threats from cyber-criminals.