Heriot-Watt University was named as ‘Security Project of the Year’ in the 2018 Security & Fire Excellence Awards by IFSEC, for its use of CriticalArc’s SafeZone student safety product.
Two years ago, Les Allan, Heriot-Watt’s Director of Safety and Security Services at the Edinburgh-based university, began to modernise their service across five campuses, in Scotland (also in Galashiels and Orkney), Dubai and Malaysia, to provide much greater care for students and staff. It’s measurably improved service response times by over 50 percent, upgrading security department capabilities and skills and raising the motivation and professionalism of the security officers, the uni reports.
Heriot-Watt uses the SafeZone command and control product across all five campuses, making Heriot-Watt the first university department to take such a global approach. SafeZone lets officers interact with students and staff wherever they are – on campus and when travelling off-site – so they can provide assistance in case of emergencies or other incidents. Les Allan’s department has already responded to serious medical emergencies using the product that gives them the tools to manage a range of live-incident risks.
Les Allan said: “SafeZone lets my team communicate quickly with individuals and groups. Using it they can receive alerts and pinpoint the location of anyone needing assistance. They can deploy officers more quickly and keep track of ongoing situations as they develop. It’s really letting them do things they couldn’t have dreamed of before.”
Heriot-Watt is also using the product to support staff and students on campus, while travelling and during fieldwork. They can ‘geo-fence’ areas as required.
The result has been a significant improvement in engagement between the security department – now re-styled as Safeguarding Services – students and staff. Between August 2017 and July 2018, a total of 5398 security incidents were attended at the south-west Edinburgh campus (the first to adopt SafeZone); 3542 of these incidents (66 per cent) involved assisting or interacting with students (rising from 33pc in 2013).
Les Allan is also regional chair of the Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO) in Scotland. He says: “We are delighted at our incredible success at the Security and Fire Excellence Awards as winners of the Security Project of the Year category. This joint award for Heriot-Watt University and our friends at CritcalArc is a testimony to the power of working in partnership for mutual benefit and delivery of excellence with a world leading solution. We are committed to continuing development and enhancement of our partnership with CriticalArc.”
Darren Chalmers-Stevens, CriticalArc, Managing Director, EMEA and APAC, added: “I’m delighted that the forward-looking partnership between Heriot Watt University and CriticalArc has been so clearly successful. This major award is further proof of how we work closely with all our customers and are leading the way in providing better protection and enabling more efficient, responsive and capable services.”
The award, sponsored by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), was presented in London on November 21 by the actor and evening’s compere James Nesbitt, pictured left.
