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What Might A Competent Person Look Like

Sun, 09 Apr 2023 18:29:39 GMT

What Might a Competent Person Look Like?

This seems to be the most repeated question being asked in the Events & Security Industry. The scant information that has come out from the evolving Martyn’s Law legislation suggests the need for Risk Assessments & Security Plans to be written by a competent person but what will that person look like. Is this competency something that will be unique to the few or with training could it be available to the masses. With a suggestion that Martyn’s Law could affect some 600,000 + locations, there is likely to be a lot of competent people needed.

The Health & Safety Executive defines a competent person as “A competent person is someone who has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities that allow them to assist you properly. The level of competence required will depend on the complexity of the situation and the particular help you need.”

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Reg 7 requires each employer to appoint one or more competent persons to provide advice and guidance to the company on matters of health and safety.

The Government operate a Competent Person Scheme for the Building Trade to support the Building Control Regulations

Trade Associations like the Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors and Certification bodies like CERTASS have Competent Person Schemes.

So is there a glimpse of how a Competent Person Scheme in the Events Security Industry might work from looking elsewhere.

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) have announced their intention to develop a scheme and associated training. But what will that training look like? How long will it take? Can a Competent Person be an in-house employee or will it need to hold some independence of an Event Organiser? How might experience and knowledge be weighted within any Competency Status?

Whatever comes out of the legislation and resulting guidance, it seems evident that an Event Organiser needs to equip itself with the necessary expertise, but having a sound knowledge of the dynamics of your event, an understanding of your event location and any vulnerabilities and having a common sense approach to planning and documentation will stand you in good stead for what is to come..

Staff Are Your Biggest Asset

Sun, 09 Apr 2023 18:11:44 GMT

Staff Are Our Biggest Asset

Working with both Event Organisers and Security Providers I can see first-hand how important Staff are. They are your biggest asset in ensuring your customers have an enjoyable day, get home safely and are wanting to book for your next event. They are the people who are front of house, welcoming your customers, they are the people who have to enforce the rules firmly but fairly in quite often exacting circumstances, they are the people who have to be able to respond quickly to changing circumstances and they are the people who have to remain vigilant permanently throughout an event often for long periods of time and in quite extreme circumstances.

Yet all too often in the efforts to maximise profit, Event Organisers often fail to plan to support those people who can really make your event.

The Summer of 2022 brought huge challenges in managing events. Not long out of the COVID Pandemic which saw events cancelled across the board, Event Organisers had to show business as usual to give confidence to their customers. Last summer also saw day after day of intense heat which gave a different dynamic to audiences which event staff had to manage. But that heat took its toll on event staff, with the need for additional personal protective equipment, additional supplies of water and sunscreen as well as more breaks.

All too often Event Organisers forget the need to factor in floating teams to allow staff to have breaks and in the summer heat those breaks have to be more frequent. A 100-strong team working for 12 hours will need 8 staff to cover 4-hourly breaks for staff. They will need a location, with shade and seating and essentials like water. If the rotas are well thought out, it doesn’t need to have to be a large space, but it is much easier to accommodate if it is thought about in the planning stage.

Staff are there not to make up the numbers but to provide a very valuable service; they need to retain their eyes-on vigilance throughout an event, to be able to react at a moment’s notice. So look after them..

Planning for the 2023 Events Season

Sun, 09 Apr 2023 17:17:07 GMT

Planning for the 2023 Events Season

Easter always heralds the start of the outdoor events season and yet for event organisers the planning for these events starts the day after the previous year’s event, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should just replicate what was done last time round. Close events season is a time to reflect on what went well and what didn’t, a time to check on whether new legislation or regulations might and a time to check on whether locations might have changed that could alter the dynamics of the event. We are also entering a time when the promised Martyn’s law will be published and whilst it has a long journey to it reaching the statute book that is not to say some of the principles should be embedded in event planning now because in all intents and purposes these are common sense things that we should all be doing to protect the public.

So here are our Top 5 tips for preparing for your event.

1 Sign up to the Purple Guide https://www.thepurpleguide.co.uk/ - At £25 a year, the subscription to this online guide is essential. The regular email updates are a valuable way of keeping on track with any changes to legislation, regulations and general best practice. This will save considerable time in preparing plans and Safety Advisory Group meetings.

2 Debriefing after an event and documenting what went well and not so well is a good practice to get into. Events are very tiring and everyone wants to put their feet up afterwards but spending a few hours bringing together key players straight after an event to reflect pays dividends in the following year’s planning. Sometimes they might be one-off incidents that you can’t plan for but often they are operational things that can be factored into new plans.

3 Planning for emergencies and putting that plan into practice is one of the key lessons that has come out of the Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry. We all have security plans for our events, but have we ever tested them. That doesn’t necessarily impact on you and your event but the wider area because an incident in one part of the town will inevitably ripple across the rest of the town.

4 Make sure everyone who is involved in your event are briefed and up to speed with techniques that are designed to keep people safe. From Counter Terrorism Training to Contextual Safeguarding your staff are your eyes and ears at an event.

5 For outdoor events, it is worthwhile visiting the location to see what might have changed. Whilst you use this location maybe once a year, others are charged with the day-to-day management of that location and things from utilities layouts to landscaping might have changed that could impact on your layout and crowd dynamics. Evolving Martyn’s Law legislation is stressing the need for vulnerability assessments for events over 800 capacity with a defined boundary; that in all likelihood will involve most pay to enter events.

The key message in all these tips is about planning, documentation, actions and reflection and creating this as the normal, routine way to organise an event. We all hope that we won’t have to ever account for what we have done at an event, but the knowledge that the information is there should we ever need it is hugely important.

Dough & Oil Testimony

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 10:45:00 GMT

Dough & Oil Testimony

COVID Lockdown and the reduction in capacity of licensed premises meant that many bars and restaurants had to look at ways of maintaining their businesses, with some resorting to creating outside licensed spaces. Many places have their own outside space or pavement space in front of their premises, but Dough & Oil didn’t. Instead they looked to making use of the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle, some 100 metres from their premises.

Last year a Temporary Events Notice was submitted to the Licensing Authority to allow for 500 people to attend. These went on without issue and were well received by those who attended.

This year Dough & Oil wants to host themed events in the Castle, but to do so they required a more bespoke approach to ensure the levels of infrastructure could be funded by those attending.

SL Consultants worked with the Personal Licence Holder to submit a bespoke application applying for 2 separate TENS applications which allows for an increased attendance number of 990 people. The supporting information provided the rationale for such approach, detailing how the 4 licensing objectives will be addressed, how public safety will be maintained and how emergency plans can be developed to ensure comfort in the event going ahead by the emergency services. The application has been approved and the event will be help in June.

The Owner of Dough & Oil expressed is delight at the application being approved. “The Licensing Authority said it was one of the best applications they had received and gave them comfort in the application being supported. SL Consultants were able to give me advice on how to plan and structure the event, how staffing should be profiled and how best to make sure everyone knows what is happening.”

Check out our Licensing page and if SL Consultants can help you with your temporary or permanent licensing needs do get in contact.

Publicly Accessible Locations

Tue, 24 May 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Publicly Accessible Locations

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) has recently issued guidance on managing publicly accessible locations. The threat we face from terrorism remains significant and we have seen both in the UK and other places of Europe attacks happening in places and at times without any warning. Having better security arrangements for these spaces make it more difficult for terrorists to plan as well as carry out attacks.

Assessing publicly accessible locations covering a vast array of terror threats, not to mention who in an organisation will lead on the development of plans and ensure the mitigation measures are embedded within an organisation can be difficult.

It’s worth remembering that terrorism is a crime and many of the measures are designed to counter any crime so it is about looking at what measures are in place generally to make people feel safe.

SL Consultants have worked with local councils and land owners to help them understand what vulnerabilities they have on their sites should they be managing events on their own land or renting out their land to event organisers and what requirements they should be pressing on those who use their land. The key is making sure that areas are risk assessed, vulnerabilities established and measures are clearly documented and communicated to the right people.

Vulnerable Sites Assessments

Mon, 23 May 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Vulnerable Sites Assessments

It is very important that land owners and event organisers can simply and quickly assess and understand the vulnerabilities of their organisations, buildings and activities.

There are Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tools (VSAT) available to make it an easy to access and simple way for organisations to assess where they may be exposed to security and continuity threats and suggests ways of addressing them. This should be seen as a major step forward for the UK in helping organisations understand the roles they have to play in ensuring the safety of our communities from terrorism threat.

The toolkits ask Questions covering: Physical Security, Personnel Security, Information Security, Good Housekeeping and Managing the Risk. They help to identify vulnerabilities, promotes reductions in vulnerabilities, measures reductions in vulnerabilities, enhances advice across the sectors and signposts best practice.

There are clear benefits of any organisation using these kind of tools; namely:

· Bench mark against your risk register

· Minimise disruption

· Minimise Impact

· Terminate parts of Risk

· Provide Actions

· Remove or Reduce Vulnerabilities

· Insurance Cover

· Invest in other areas of business

SL Consultants have undertaken Vulnerable Site Assessments for its clients giving them reassurance of the measures that need to be put in place.

What can we learn from Manchester already enforcing the Martyn’s Law?

Thu, 19 May 2022 10:30:03 GMT

What can we learn from Manchester already enforcing the Martyn’s Law?

Martyn was one of 22 people who lost their lives at the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017 and since then his mum has pushed for better security measures to help to thwart terrorist attacks and similar loss of life. Whilst there are various pieces of legislation designed to protect us from terrorist attack there needs to be some common sense rules we all follow and it is Martyn’s Law which sets out these requirements:

1. Spaces and places to which the public have access engage with freely available counter terrorism advice and training

2. Those places to conduct vulnerability assessments of their operating places and spaces.

3. Those places to have a mitigation plan for the risks created by the vulnerabilities

4. Those places to have a counter-terrorism plan

5. Local authorities must plan for the threat of terrorism

Manchester City Council and its partners are now embracing these requirements in their everyday planning of managing public spaces and public events. The Manchester BID are arranging Action Counter Terrorism Training for local businesses, the Police are promoting the Vulnerability Site Assessment Toolkit and the City Council have Emergency Plans should anything similar to the awful events of 2017 were to happen again.

Whilst there are resources available to help businesses, event organisers and land owners, it is often working out what is proportionate and realistic that proves difficult.

SL Consultants have worked with a number of clients to help set out a plan of action to be prepared ahead of legislation being made and many clients have that awareness of terrorism firmly in their everyday working practice. This is something none of us can avoid. Check out our Terrorism Management Feature and get in contact to see how we can help.

CPNI Recognising Terrorist Threats

Wed, 18 May 2022 10:00:10 GMT

CPNI Recognising Terrorist Threats

Our experience has shown that there are so many resources available nationally that event organisers, security companies and land owners can be overwhelmed by where to start and instead of taking account of some of the information, they don’t take account of any. This is a frightening thought particularly since terrorists target vulnerabilities.

The UK continues to face a challenging threat from terrorism, but early recognition of those warning signs and indicators of a terror attack can reduce casualties and ultimately save lives. All of us have a part to play in knowing what those signs are.

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure released the Recognising terrorist threats | CPNI guide two years ago and this remains one of the most comprehensive guides available. Even printing this guide off and giving it to staff to read regularly will help them to recognise those indicators.

SL Consultants have worked with event organisers and security companies to help enforce the awareness of these indicators so that they become part of normal working activity. Access the link to read the document and if SL Consultants can help you to train your staff get in contact.

Good Housekeeping

Mon, 09 May 2022 08:00:10 GMT

Good Housekeeping

Whilst the word housekeeping is more synonymous with managing domestic properties, the need for good housekeeping in public spaces is crucial to understanding vulnerabilities of sites. Good housekeeping improves the safety of your premises. Reduces the opportunity for placing suspicious packages in key locations and helps manage hoaxes.

It might be that what appear as pretty innocent materials are left on site and not secured. It’s worth remembering that ladders, or scaffolding poles or a can of flammable liquid might all be used by a terrorist.

As owners of parks and open spaces we become quite complacent as to how infrastructure on site is situated. Are there bins in vulnerable locations and how might you see whether anything has been left in them? Is the vegetation kept clear of entrances and CCTV locations to ensure visibility splays are maintained? Are there first aid kits and fire extinguishers available? Are wheelie bins, recycling bins and skips secured? Are there appropriate arrangements on site to manage contractors?

SL Consultants have carried out walkabouts with land owners to highlight good housekeeping measures and help develop checklists to ensure these places are as safe as can be.

Summer Events and how we can be vigilant

Tue, 03 May 2022 10:30:03 GMT

Summer Events and how we can be vigilant

This summer we very much hope that there will be an increase in public events, festivals and concerts after two years thwarted by the pandemic. Whilst COVID seems to be on the decline, the terror threat sadly isn’t. Therefore, it means that event organisers, their staff, their event goers and customers must all remain vigilant, know how to spot the signs of a terror attack and most crucially know how to report and act upon a credible threat.

It is quite easy for event organisers to become overwhelmed by the raft of information available from a number of national bodies with responsibilities for protecting us and working out which initiatives work best for organisers and their events is difficult. Organisers also find that whilst guidance is designed to benefit any organisation, event organisers struggle to work out what they need to do within their organisations and their premises to keep everyone safe.

SL Consultants have helped many of their clients to develop Event Management Plans and Security Plans pulling together the best of the national guidance available, maximising the benefit of using these guidelines without them becoming overly burdensome. Check out our previous Blog on managing security at a festival and get in contact to see how we can help.

The Importance of Training Your Staff

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 21:11:45 GMT

The Importance of Training Your Staff

As technology advances, workplace methods and strategies improve and our whole working environment changes, there is always a need for staff to enhance their knowledge, skills, values and abilities. The Security and Licensing industry is no different. Staff working in licensed premises or at events and festivals need to have wide ranging skills from the technical skills to do their jobs through to a huge range of softer skills around customer service, personal safety to being aware of potential terror threats. The Security and Licensing industry is making greater use of technology to understand visitor numbers, video and monitor crowds to advanced communications so having staff who can adapt to change is a must. It is also imperative that once staff have undertaken training, those skills aren’t allowed to lapse and licence renewals and refresher training courses need to be factored into training programmes.

SL Consultants have helped many clients with developing training programmes and schedules so that staff skillset grows for the betterment of both the individual and the business. Some training programmes can be costly in terms of time and money yet others are freely available. We have been able to develop programmes which maximise the benefits to an organisation to meet varied training budgets.

Top 5 Tips for Managing Security at a Festival

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 21:08:47 GMT

Top 5 Tips for Managing Security at a Festival

With thousands of outdoor events and festivals attracting millions of visitors the need to keep people safe is as important as ever. The country remains on a heightened level of security risk from terrorism with events being seen as an easy target given attendance numbers. Events like this also attract recreational drug use, excess alcohol consumption and other related anti-social behaviour, so what do festival organisers and security providers have to think about in planning a safe and secure event?

No 1 – Work with the Local Authority and Emergency Services

Getting the event right at the planning stage is crucially important, thinking ahead and planning for the worst. Having a robust Event Management Plan and Security Plan detailing how the event is to be organised, what impact the event will have on the local area infrastructure, the emergency arrangements should anything happen and the mechanism for how outside agencies will be involved is extremely important. So engaging with these organisations at that planning stage will prove beneficial.

No 2 - Having Good Policies and Procedures

Like any organisation, having good processes that are understood by the whole organisation is extremely important and no more so than at an event, so it is worth spending time making sure those rules are well constructed, are clear and precise and can be understood by all involved. Added to this there needs to be a good process of how things are documented so take time in making sure any checklists are easy to complete and capture the necessary information.

No 3 - Getting the Right People involved

Managing the crowds, being able to implement an evacuation process and generally keeping festival visitors safe is a skill so getting the right festival security staff throughout the event is extremely important. Because the skillset required is broad all staff should be SIA trained and hold current SIA licences relevant to their required duties as listed in the Private Security Industry Act 2001 [PSIA2001] and should be able to provide a high-level experience and knowledge of all aspects of festival security and security management.

When considering the services of a Security contractor suitable for your requirements they must be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the role that is required of the company and be conversant with current policies and security procedures. For most larger events they will need to provide a detailed security plan clearly setting out their security arrangements for the event or festival which gives due regard to all other event departments, activities and risks.

They also need to demonstrate their ability in working with local safety advisory groups [SAG] and emergency services to ensure inter-operability planning.

No 4 - Crowd Management

People want to feel safe when they attend a Festival so having security staff in attendance throughout the event, including the set up stage is crucial. Security staff need to be visible and proactive, engaging with the public. Choose a contractor that has that reputation for having a highly visible and professional presence and a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

No 5 - Public Awareness

Much of keeping the public safe is down to what the public can do to keep themselves safe so why not put details on the Festival Website, on the back of the ticket or on social media of what to do at the event so that they remain aware but also are prepared.

SL Consultants have much experience in helping Event Organisers and Security Companies in that planning stage and getting things right at the start will prove worthwhile.

How might the protect duty affect my event?

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 21:05:32 GMT

How Might the Protect Duty affect my Event?

The bombing at the Ariana Grande Concert in 2017 sent shockwaves around the whole concert and events industry that something so devastating could happen to such innocent people. The resulting public inquiry made significant recommendations on placing a Protect Duty on the industry to ensure that when the public attend venues and events they can rely on the fact that premises owners and event organisers have made every effort to keep them safe. Government responded quickly to the Public Inquiry recommendations by consulting on the introduction of a Protect Duty in 2021 and responded to the consultation exercise in early 2022 with a commitment to bringing in legislation.

This legislation will have far reaching implications on the Security and Licensing Industry, affecting not just venues like restaurants and bars, theatres and concert venues but also open spaces like high streets and parks and even beaches. The Protect Duty will mean that business owners, event organisers and land owners will need to have appropriate physical security and well-established systems that will assess any terror threats to their operations, have plans in place to mitigate those risks any also make sure that all staff involved are trained to spot any possible terror threat and be able to act upon it before anything more catastrophic happens.

Whilst the legislation has not yet been introduced SL Consultants has been working with different organisations from Security Contractors on how they train their staff, to Event Organisers planning and assessing risk to even Local Councils who rent out their land for major concerts. Many are taking the view that they should be embracing the Protect Duty now and developing a culture of normal practice now rather than wait until they have to react to new legislation.

SL Consultants has helped clients draft new Security Planning Policies, programmes of training for staff and have carried out site assessments to help organisations understand the risks and put measures in place to keep everyone safe.

Do I need a premises licence?

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 20:27:21 GMT

Do I need a Premises Licence?

If you are intending to sell alcohol or hot food and drink between 11pm-5am you will need a premises licence. Regardless of whether you are a commercial business or a charity you will still need a licence. A premises licence is needed if you are providing various types of entertainment; these will include showing a film, playing live or recorded music, theatre and dance. There are however a number of exemptions where you will not need a licence; these would include educational or promotional films, films that are part of an exhibition in a museum or incidental music.

Experience has shown that you are always best making enquiries with the Licensing Authority to check whether you need a Premises Licence. Other things to think about would be the need to appoint a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) when you apply for a licence if you are intending to sell alcohol. A DPS must also have a personal licence to sell alcohol.

SL Consultants provides a comprehensive service for premises owners who need a premises licence or wish to amend an existing licence. Liaising with the Licensing Authority is always a good move and helps to smooth out any problems later on down the line. Premises licences are generally granted for the lifetime of the business and there is an annual fee to pay the Licensing Authority to maintain the licence.

Why will being accredited help my business

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 20:27:21 GMT

Why Will Being Accredited Help My Business?

SL Consultants experience over the last 30 years has shown that more and more Security Companies are looking to accredit to recognised bodies to help them improve and grow their operations. Whether it be cross sector bodies like SafeContractor or security specific bodies like the Security Industry Authority Approved Contractor Scheme all are designed to raise performance standards and assist organisations in developing new business.

Because of the risks often associated with the industry, particularly around risks of terrorism, impact of alcohol consumption and recreational drugs, the associated anti-social behaviour and the general need to manage conflicting behaviour, organisations who want to contract with Security providers want to be assured that those they contract with have reached a certain level of attainment and because these accrediting bodies expect similar standards, clients can feel assured by they have reached accreditation. Our experience is that many organisations are now resorting to having pass/fail criteria in tender documents on showing relevant contractor accreditation and many security providers are very proactive in promoting accreditation.

SL Consultants have taken Clients through the accreditation process, making sure their policies and procedures are robust, their levels of financial and managerial governance work for the organisation and that general ethos in developing responsive and responsibility are embedded throughout the business.

Why are policies and procedure important?

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 20:27:21 GMT

Why Are Policies & Procedures Important?

SL Consultants are often asked to review working practices of different organisations in the Security and Licensing Industry and we have been able to help see those businesses stop making avoidable mistakes. Many businesses have put policies and procedures in place just because they should but they lack the appreciation of how these kind of documents can really help their business.

Policies and Procedures allow an organisation to commit in writing what the business values and missions are, what the standards of behaviour and operations are, but crucially what is expected of everyone one involved in that organisation. Everyone needs to buy into the ethos of these policies to make sure they are followed throughout the organisation and become the normal way of operating.

In the case of the Security and Licensing Industry where legislation is quite clear and the consequences of not following that legislation can be quite severe, policies and procedures set out the levels of management accountability of an organisation and show how the organisation is meeting any statutory responsibilities.

Thankfully major problems are in the minority, but when things go wrong, one of the first things any regulator will do is ask to see the policies and procedures of an organisation and the audit trail of activity in accordance with those rules. The Security and Licensing authorities are no different so it is worth really understanding the value of these policies.

SL Consultants provides a Compliance Service, looking at how an organisation should operate and can advise of the best way to construct policies and procedures to maximise the value to a business.