Edinburgh is the latest place to have a resilience exercise by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), the regulator for the UK private security sector. The venue was the Shanghai Club in George Street.
Four simulations, in real-time and involving volunteer actors, ran through emergency scenarios: an attack inside the venue with a bladed weapon, an acid attack on a patron, a suspect package and a marauding terrorist attack taking place outside the club. Door security teams from Edinburgh and the surrounds were there to observe.
Ronnie Megaughin, the SIA’s Head of Compliance and Inspections, said: “These realistic scenarios are an excellent method for training security operatives and gives them an ideal opportunity to put their training to use. Security operatives may be the first people on the scene in an incident. Yesterday’s staged terror incidents enabled security operatives to take part and deal with the scenario, and then receive an instant debrief from counter-terror experts.
“We know from experience that operatives, and their managers, really appreciate what they learn from these events and find them worth their while. Any of these security staff could find themselves as the first responder at a serious incident, and this exercise could literally be the difference between life and death.”
And John Sandlin, SIA Senior Manager Compliance and Inspections, said: “The main aim of exercises like this is to increase public safety in the night-time economy by working with venues and security staff. It’s also to showcase best practice by putting the Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) security e-learning package, which we’ve been recommending to all SIA-licensed operatives, into practice. We’re really pleased with the commitment that all the security staff put into the exercise at the Shanghai Club.”
This emergency exercise follows similar events in Chesterfield (pre-covid), London’s West End (pictured, featured in the November 2021 print edition of Professional Security Magazine), Glasgow and Leicester.
