For many workers dealing with the public, there is a balance between being themselves, and keeping the site, accessible and safe.
To take politicians as an example, risks range from assassination (in parliament, from the Gunpowder Plot to the killing of Airey Neave in his car on a ramp leading from the underground car park, in 1979) to common assault – John Prescott while deputy prime minister having an egg hit him on the election trail in 2001. At parliament as at party conferences, the dilemma is between securing the VIPs and securing them too much so that the public cannot see them. Yet it was after the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the 1984 Conservative Party conference that the IRA gave the most chilling and succinct definition of the stakes: “… we only have to be lucky once; you will have to be lucky always.” Hence physical (anti-vehicle bomb bollards) security and airport-style searches at parliament; and at political party conferences, temporary road closures. And as for deterring 7-7-style bombers, bags or luggage larger than those permitted in aircraft cabins may be refused entry at parliament, which besides has no facilities for leaving items.
A speaker at the ASIS European security conference in Barcelona in April was Christopher Bowes, of MFD Security (www.mfdsecurity.co.uk), on bomb blast effects and protection of buildings and people.
As he told Professional Security, the first priority is to keep bombs out of a building: “Internal explosions are always significantly worse than external explosions.” Secondly, keep bombs away from buildings. “But so often these days you can drive into the basement of a building,” such as large public or airport buildings. The type of glass matters: “It is unfortuante that most of the injuries are from [flying] glass, up to 500m from a large lorry bomb.” But, he added, glass can be made significantly more robust with double glazing with laminate on the inside.
Plane Stupid
Talking of parliament, in February Plane Stupid campaigners from the roof unfurled banners saying ‘BAA HQ’ to make a protest against a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Other protesters (wearing high-vis jackets) held up a similar banner from a plane on the airport Tarmac. As the Greenpeace website said, the aim was to ‘grab headlines’. The website said: (www.greenpeace.org.uk): “At one point, Plane Stupid’s action was the top global story on Google News. But back here, most of the usual media supects were interested in only one narrow aspect of the story: security. How did they get in to two of our most well-guarded public buildings? What if they had been terrorists? How could this have been allowed to happen?” To leave aside whether the protesters or the mainstream media’s slant are right, it is fair to say that such intrusions to make a high-profile point are a tactic for protesters; and embarrassing for the site. In October, a protester put masks over the mouths of two of the ‘Terracotta Warriors’ on show over the winter at the British Museum, in a protest against Chinese pollution. As the exhibits were not behind glass, anyone paying to enter could stand within a few feet of the statues.
A spring recent spate of thefts of plant and equipment from construction sites in the Ballymena and Larne part of Northern Irleand prompted this advice from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. It can mean electronic security products; or, being on good terms with neighbours.
PSNI’s Crime Prevention Officer for that area, PC Dean McAuley pointed out that theft of plant and equipment is preventable. ”Site access is an important issue and I would ask contractors to look at how they manage pedestrian and vehicular access. Ideally all “visitors” should have to report to a pre-determined point close to the entrance, to be logged in and out, and staff should also be encouraged to challenge any strangers found within the site boundary particularly if they are carrying equipment. Contrary to what people may believe, not all thefts from building sites occur at weekends or during the hours of darkness.” Some criminals, he added, will make use of poor security to go about unnoticed at starting and quitting times, and lunch.
Mixing it
Site layout can make life more difficult for thieves: “Where possible avoid having cement mixers, larger items of plant, storage containers, and other tools sitting close to the site entrance. Instead try to place several obstacles between the equipment and the access point. The amount spent on crime prevention should be proportionate to the value of the equipment being kept on site, and serious consideration should given to the fitting of tracking devices, security lighting, hidden cameras, CCTV systems, and even the posting of a security guard.” Tell any residents near their site of the normal hours of work, and types of vehicles to be expected, then, if they see anyone outside these hours, or any unfamiliar vehicles, low loaders, curtain sided lorries or vans, or vehicles that have no advertising displayed, they know to note make, colour and registration number, and to call police.
