Alan Cain, pictured, a member of the Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO), talks about the launch of the Emergency Planning Specialist Interest Group which he heads, and how this dovetails with the latest on Martynโs Law and the overlap between security and emergency planning.
Higher education needs to be able to plan for and respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies. These could be anything from adverse weather conditions (such as cold, high winds, and snow), flooding, infectious disease outbreaks, power or utilities outages, cyber security incidents or even a terrorist attack. Given my recent experience within NHS emergency planning I was asked by AUCSO, to head up the Special Interest Group on Emergency Planning so that Universities can be better prepared for these incidents.
It includes helping universities embed JESIP (Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles) into their emergency planning arrangements, incorporating the use of M/ETHANE and the Joint Decision Model. It will also include helping them to plan for concurrent incidents, where two different incidents happen at the same time. The need to prepare for concurrent incidents was a key learning point during COVID-19, where the protracted nature of the pandemic meant that it frequently overlapped with other major incidents such as flooding and cyber-attacks, and thereby complicated the response.
Make-up of the Emergency Planning Specialist Interest Group (SIG)
There are 257 AUCSO member universities and FE Colleges in the UK, across Europe and worldwide and if we can get ten to 12 people to join the SIG who are passionate about emergency planning that would be a fantastic start. I am keen to attract as broad a spectrum of members as possible to the group. If there is one lesson I learnt during my time in the NHS itโs that no one organisation has all the answers and a multi-agency approach is the best way to succeed. The teams I worked in typically comprised representatives from the police, fire and rescue service, ambulance service, NHS and the local authority. Each of us understood our own little bits of the jigsaw, but only by working together could we see the whole picture.
In the Emergency Planning SIG I am therefore hoping to attract people from a diverse range of backgrounds. Individuals with experience obtained in Estates, Facilities or Student Services will be every bit as welcome as those who have backgrounds in the Emergency Services or the Military. There is strength in diversity and what we want to avoid as a SIG is a collection of people who all have the same background.
Launch of Specialist Interest Group (SIG)
We plan to launch the SIG in March 2025 and hope to have our first meeting shortly after. This will be followed by a briefing at the AUCSO conference in April 2025. After that we plan on having four meetings per year.
Year one
The Emergency Planning SIG will work closely with the CONTEST SIG around Martynโs Law, which is a hugely important piece of legislation for the university sector.
We will be looking, as a priority, to update the โResilience in Higher Educationโ manual. Last updated in 2019, prior to the COVID pandemic, this 215-page document was authored by Dr Lucy Easthope, one of the UKโs leading experts on recovering from disasters. It contained both guidance on emergency planning and a collection of case studies drawn from across the university sector.
Alongside this we also plan to update the โEmergency Management in Higher Education Institutesโ course (subject to funding). This was a superb introductory course that covered a range of topics including the nature and impact of emergencies, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, integrated emergency management, crisis communications and business continuity.
Martynโs Law: The Overlap Between Security and Emergency Planning
Martynโs Law requires that those responsible for publicly accessible locations take proportionate steps to reduce the threat to the public from a terrorist attack, through effective preparation and response. The need for Martynโs Law remains as high as ever, with joint operations between MI5 and the police foiling some 43 late-stage terror plots since March 2017.
Under the leadership of Gary Stephens, from the University of Glasgow, the CONTEST SIG, are doing some fantastic work around developing the evacuation, invacuation and lockdown plans necessary to respond effectively to various terrorist attack methodologies, including the use of bladed weapons, firearms, vehicles, fire (as a weapon) and explosives.
From an emergency planning perspective however, there are various hazards (rather than threats) that may also require a university to lockdown, invacuate or evacuate its staff and students. These could include:
โข A power or other utility failure
โข A structural collapse (e.g. due to RAAC concrete)
โข Severe weather (e.g. cold, wind, and snow)
โข Flooding
โข Fire
โข A HAZMAT (hazardous materials) release
The dovetailing of evacuation, invacuation and lockdown plans designed for the threat of terrorism with those designed for the hazards outlined above will be one of the most crucial aspects of the planning process, requiring close collaboration between Heads of Security and those responsible for Emergency Planning.
Who gives the order to lock down?
Important questions also need to be asked around authority levels. Who has the authority to order an evacuation or invacuation in the event of a suspicious package being found? Who has the authority to order a lockdown in the event of a bladed weapon or firearms attack? Is it the Head of Security? During core hours this makes sense. But what about in the evening or at the weekend when they may not be on campus and time spent contacting them by phone equates to lives lost? Who then? In some HE and FE institutions the Principal or Vice-Chancellor is responsible overnight, in others it maybe senior staff on a rota, there is no consistent approach.
Is the university happy for a security supervisor or duty manager, perhaps on a junior/operational or equivalent role to make the decision? Assuming it is, what investment does the university need to make in the supervisors training and development to increase the likelihood that the decision they make is the correct one? Is that same security supervisor also the right person to make the decision when the issue is not a terrorist attack but a structural collapse, a power outage or a flood?
What are the actual procedures, given that universities have multiple buildings?
Once the issues around who actually has the authority to order a lockdown are resolved the real hard work begins. What are the actual processes for locking down a campus should a major incident occur, terrorist or otherwise? How will a co-ordinated lock down actually work across the multiple buildings typical of most university campuses? Many universities have grown organically over the years and will include older buildings, in some cases listed, which do not have the infrastructure in place to be locked down remotely. How will they be secured in the event of a terrorist attack?
Making the Communication Plan work
As well as the requirement for evacuation, invacuation and lockdown plans the Martynโs Law legislation also requires that a communication plan be put in place. How will you communicate with staff and students about a terrorist attack or other major incident? University campuses typically comprise an outdoor footprint containing multiple buildings. How will your security control room inform staff and students who are outside of the danger? Should it use a mobile app or a PA-VA (Public Address and Voice Alarm) system with external speakers? What about inside the university buildings themselves? Do you still use a mobile app or a PA-VA system? What about desk top screen alerts or using smartboards?
The technology is there to support timely communications and save lives, but it’s going to need a bit of thought in terms of how we overlap the messaging for the terrorism related threats that Martynโs Law seeks to redress with the messaging for the range of hazards more familiar to the emergency planner.
Timeline
Following its successful passage through the House of Commons and the House of Lords the Government will be under considerable political pressure to ensure that the legislation is enacted before the eighth anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack on May 22, 2025. The legislation is long overdue and much needed. It is our duty as Heads of Security and Emergency Planners to make it work.
Conclusion
The establishment of the Emergency Planning Specialist Interest Group (SIG) represents a vital step in strengthening the resilience of AUCSO member institutions against a broad range of threats and hazards. By fostering collaboration across diverse disciplines and embedding key principles such as JESIP, M/ETHANE, and the Joint Decision Model, the SIG will enhance preparedness and response capabilities within the sector.
The integration of emergency planning with security measures, particularly in light of Martynโs Law, underscores the importance of a coordinated and well-structured approach to incidents requiring evacuation, invacuation, or lockdown. With a clear roadmap for its first year, including the review of essential training materials and guidance documents, the SIG will play a pivotal role in ensuring universities are better equipped to manage concurrent incidents and protect staff and students. As the legislative landscape evolves, our collective responsibility is to translate policy into practice, ensuring that emergency preparedness remains a top priority across the sector.
About the author
Alan Cain has worked in the security industry for over 22 years, initially in embassy and oilfield security. He also served in the London Regiment (Army Reserve) and completed tours of Afghanistan and Iraq. He began his Higher Education security career in 2011 at the University of Leeds where he was sent on the โEmergency Management in Higher Education Institutesโ course run by AUCSO at the University of Glasgow and this started a lifelong interest in Emergency Planning. In 2019 Alan joined NHS Greater Manchester as an EPRR (Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response) Manager. Shortly after joining, the first COVID-19 cases began to appear in the UK and it was very much a case of โin at the deep endโ since many of the planning assumptions were based on an influenza-style pandemic rather than a coronavirus. He worked in the NHS for five years and obtained his DipHEPRR (The Royal Society for Public Health โDiploma in Health Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Responseโ) before returning to the University sector in March 2024 as Head of Security and Emergency Management at the University of Salford.
