Solutions to Comply with Martyn’s Law: Standard Tier

As a manufacturer, you might be wondering how the new requirements under Martyn’s Law will affect your operations and what steps you need to take to comply. In this blog, we aim to provide you with an unbiased overview of the solutions available to meet the standard tier of Martyn’s Law.

Our goal, as always, is to inform you about practical measures that can enhance the security of your premises, without overwhelming you with unnecessary details or pushing specific services.

By understanding these requirements, you will be able to make informed decisions to protect your employees, visitors, and facilities from potential threats.

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Comprehensive Risk Assessments

Purpose: To identify potential terrorism-related risks and vulnerabilities in your manufacturing facility.

One the main facets of Martyn’s Law is to assess the impact of a terrorist attack on your business. How you do that is completely up to you, but it is vital that is it documented. Below, we have given you a couple of ways you can achieve this.

Solutions

Professional Risk Assessment Services: Engage security professionals to conduct a thorough risk assessment tailored to your facility’s specific needs.

Internal Risk Assessment Teams: Train your internal teams to perform a risk assessment, focusing on identifying vulnerabilities to terrorist threats.

In addition to conducting a risk assessment, it is vital that the business keeps up to date with changing threat levels and conditions. You should consider implementing a system that provides real-time data on potential threats such as intelligence reports and social media monitoring and ensure staff are trained in dynamic risk assessments. That way you can ensure your plans are flexible and can be adjusted quickly according to the threat, meaning your business will be prepared long into the future.

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Enhanced Security Measures

Dependant on the outcome of your risk assessments, it may be necessary to implement enhanced security measures to protect your staff and visitors. In this section, we have taken a quick look at some of the options available. (Please note, we are not saying you need all these measures, but that some may be needed if the risk assessment calls for mitigation measures.)

Perimeter Security

Purpose: To demark your property and prevent unauthorised access. To guide authorised persons to the correct entry point.

Solutions:

Security Lighting: Utilising strategical placed security lighting can deter unauthorised access, improve visibility, and reduce the risk of covert surveillance by malicious actors.

Security Fencing: Establishing a perimeter with a security fence can prevent unauthorised access and guide authorised persons to the correct entry point. Thought should be given to the security rating of the fence (ensure it is inline with the threat), as well as consideration for anti-climb features.

Access Control Systems

Purpose: To control access and egress, to restrict unauthorised access and monitor entry points for abnormalities.

Solutions:

Electronic Access Control Systems: Implementing systems such as key cards, biometric scanners, or facial recognition can ensure only authorised personnel can gain access. Consider vulnerabilities such as credential sharing or card pass back, as well as tailgating.

Physical Barriers: Installing barriers such as security gates, barriers and bollards can control access and protect against vehicle-borne threats.

Surveillance Systems

Purpose: To monitor activities within and around your premises and highlight oddities or actions that are out of the norm.

Solutions:

CCTV Cameras: Installing high-definition cameras with night vision and motion detection capabilities at strategic locations can highlight actions or behaviours that warrant investigation.

Monitoring Services: Utilising third-party monitoring services can ensure constant surveillance and quick response to potential threats.

AI-Powered Surveillance: The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in CCTV systems significantly enhances real-time monitoring and security. AI can detect unusual behaviours, recognise faces, and analyse patterns, providing more proactive security measures. The industry offers a vast array of options, with rapidly advancing technologies continually improving the effectiveness and capabilities of AI-powered surveillance systems.

Employee Training and Awareness

Purpose: To equip employees with the knowledge and skills to respond effectively to potential terrorist threats.

Another of the main facets of Martyn’s Law, staff training and awareness is essential to the successful planning and response in the event of a terrorist attack. In this section, we have given a few options of how you could effectively train your staff.

Solutions:

Internal Training Programs: Conducting your own training sessions on security awareness, emergency response procedures, and recognising suspicious activities can ensure relevant staff and management are trained, however, this can be resource intensive.

Free External Training Programs: There are several training programs available for businesses to raise awareness and ensure preparedness of a terrorist attack that are freely available. These include Action Counter Terrorism (ACT) Training, See, Check and Notify (SCaN) Training & ScaN Training for Line Managers.

Paid External Training Programs: Utilising paid training courses from external providers is an ideal way of adding additional skills and knowledge to specific personnel within your workforce. Member of staff with added responsibility or first aid responders could benefit from this type of training.

Emergency Response Plans

Purpose: To establish clear procedures for responding to terrorist incidents.

A key aspects of the new Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, emergency response plans underscore all your previous actions. Failure to properly respond to an attack will ultimately make all other actions futile. Here we have highlighted a few ways in which you can develop your emergency response plans.

Solutions:

Develop Comprehensive Plans: Creating a detailed emergency response plans inhouse can outline actions to take during various types of terrorist attacks that are specific to your organisation but they maybe resource intensive to produce and be limited to the authors ability.

Collaboration with Local Authorities: Coordinating with local and national police forces along with local authorities can provide additional information and knowledge. For example, ProtectUK along with the NPSA website are a great resource, although it remains a heavy resource intensive for the business.

Engage a Professional Security Consultancy: Engaging a third-party organisation to consult and produce emergency response plan on your behalf maybe be a cost-effective route dependant on your situation.

Public Disclosure and Transparency

Purpose: To inform and reassure employees, visitors, and the public about the security measures in place.

One of the features of Martyn’s Law that makes it different from any other similar legislation, is disclosing your security measures and planned emergency response plans to the public. Ultimately it is vital to comfort your staff and visitors. Here are a couple of options.

Solutions:

Security Information Sharing: Provide clear information about your security measures and emergency procedures through internal communications, signage, and public announcements.

Visitor Education: Inform visitors about security protocols and procedures during their time at your facility.

Conclusion

Our objective in this blog has been to provide you with an informed understanding of the solutions available to meet the standard tier of Martyn’s Law. By focusing on practical measures to enhance security without overwhelming you with unnecessary details, we aim to empower you to make educated decisions in safeguarding your employees, visitors, and facilities from potential terrorist threats.

Remember, compliance with Martyn’s Law is not only about meeting legal requirements but also about creating a safe and secure environment for your operations. Should you require further guidance or assistance in navigating these security measures, we’re here to help you every step of the way.