The new regulations are likely to be applied in proportion to the size of the venue and the size of the organisation. It will be important that all staff members receive training in the new measures. Businesses of all sizes will need to be able to prove that they are compliant. 

Risk management and avoiding liability claims 

The legislation opens up venue management and security providers to potential claims should an incident not be managed adequately and places an onus on larger venues to formally assess the risks.

Venues and operators will need to implement protective security and organisational preparedness measures, as well as a robust plan to deal with a terrorist incident. Staff provided by security firms must be fully conversant with that plan and the security measures in place. Strategies to improve and evidence venue compliance will be key.

Those who have worked in the industry understand how hard it will be to deliver on these expectations given the cut and thrust of demand, budget restraints and skills shortages. Delivery on introduction and throughout a given venue’s day-to-day operations over extended periods will create new training and auditing requirements that must be able to withstand interrogation should the worst case scenario arise.

Flexibility to meet Protect Duty regulatory requirements 

At SmartTask, we have long worked together with our security service provider clients to create a flexible platform that’s able to provide a solution for precisely this sort of requirement.

When it comes to meeting the obligations of the Protect Duty, one of the main objectives of any security plan to is ensure that members of staff are trained on what they should do in the event of a terrorist incident.

This is going to include:

*Understanding the risk level

*Making sure they know which evacuation routes to use at each of the locations they are likely to work and under what circumstances

*What to do if the primary evacuation routes are blocked

*Identifying safe spaces

*Effective communication

Constructing and delivering officer training requires detailed local knowledge of the facility that’s granular enough to ensure clear and complete understanding from all officers of what is expected of them.  

Once training has been delivered, there is then the need for ongoing checking that officers in situ have retained the knowledge and can apply it quickly and efficiently should the need arise.

Proof of workplace training 

SmartTask customers managing security at large-scale public museums in central London are electronically capturing the frequent real-time testing of officers at their workplace. This ensures officer knowledge is refreshed and front of mind, while at the same time evidence of employee and venue compliance is being gathered. This solution not only improves officer and venue preparedness, but also helps to protect service providers should investigations be conducted after an incident occurs.

As iconic public venues across the country are opening up again and seeing visitor numbers increase after the lockdown, the team at SmartTask is excited to be part of keeping the British public safe.

Paul Ridden is CEO of SmartTask (www.smarttask.co.uk) 

Paul Ridden has spent most of his working life in the computer industry. For the last decade, he has focused on software solutions for the security, cleaning, FM and logistics sectors. One key element of Paul’s role as CEO is to use his passion and entrepreneurial approach to build a team that can develop and deliver affordable software solutions that take advantage of the very latest technologies and deliver value for all SmartTask end users

*For more information about professional business systems designed by UK-based SmartTask specifically for security sector businesses, visit the company’s website at www.smarttask.co.uk or send an e-mail to tellmemore@smarttask.co.uk