A standard PAS 29000 (publicly available specification) on mitigating security risks of lorries has been published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and sponsored by the Department for Transport and the UK official Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).
The 24-page PAS, ‘Framework for mitigating security risks from malicious use’, is free to download from the British Standards website.
Nick Fleming, Head of Mobility and Transport Standards at BSI, said: “This new standard, developed with operators of commercial vehicles, encourages good practice in the managing of security risks that may help to reduce the threat of vehicles being used in acts that may cause intentional harm to the public or for organised crime. The standard highlights the growing importance of physical vehicle security measures to help prevent such criminal acts taking place.”
The spec does make the point that theft of cargo from lorries, or vehicles being used for drugs trafficking, are โmalicious usesโ that happen more often than โvehicle as a weaponโ terror. Hence the document goes through โorganisational measuresโ, starting with a risk assessment and like other Standards, based on policies and processes. Mitigation may include โrobust pre-employment checks for all employeesโ, a briefing for new staff on โthe required security cultureโ, and โa means for staff to report security concernsโ. As for physical security, the PAS suggests among other things pre-booking of all visitors and a requirement for wearing a pass while on site. The document goes on to the vehicles, such as checking – especially when a lorry has been left parked – for anything planted or stowed on board. Also proposed is a security breach and incident management plan; and a review at least every 12 months.
The DfT says that it’s working with industry on accreditation and certification schemes for commercial vehicle firms to meet the PAS.
