Safety can be simple

After a suicide bomber attacked concert goers at the Manchester Arena in 2017, it was plain that a change was needed in how we protected people visiting public spaces.

In particular, there was widespread agreement that security and safety wasn’t just a matter for the police and emergency services; event organisers and the venues they used had to have a larger role in prevention and planning.

That realisation led to the campaign for Martyn’s Law, which is currently going through Parliament.

Officially known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, it will place a duty on premises and events to have security procedures in place to reduce the risk of harm if there’s an attack.

Some larger events and premises would need documented measures to reduce their vulnerability but it may well be some time before it fully comes into force as organisations and premises will need time to prepare.

As explained on ProtectUK – the dedicated website of the Home Office on counter-terrorism security information, training and materials – it will only directly apply to larger events and premises.

Yet we know that the people who want to do harm are just as capable of targeting small venues and small organisations.

Attacks on high-profile events or locations are getting harder to pull off, so how can we ensure people are protected everywhere they play, compete or train?

Luckily, we’re a society where voluntary associations have always taken responsibility to look after their people.

UK sports clubs and teams are exemplars of good practice in introducing safety and safeguarding protocols, and doing it with only the goodwill of volunteers to draw on.
 

At the National Counter Terrorism Security Office we have been developing simple and easy-to-follow tools that are intended to demystify the steps needed to make people safer.

As well as working with some of the country’s biggest sporting organisations with large security set-ups, we’re conscious that security and terrorism are often the last thing on the mind of a club secretary who has to organise coaches, book referees, sweet talk parents into overseeing the car park or finding someone to collect the weekly subs.

Few people probably want to worry about having a plan to stop an intruder with a knife or think through how to manage multiple casualties caused by a rogue vehicle, but they want to know that someone has thought about the risks and that there are procedures in place.

Those procedures may be as simple as making sure you know who is coming into the building, organising the car park to limit the risk of an attacker getting up speed in a vehicle or having a protocol for getting people to safety inside a clubhouse, the changing rooms or the equipment store.

Or they might just involve regular volunteers by asking them to do a short free online security-awareness course.

Working with security experts across Government, industry and a number of national bodies, we’ve built a number of free tools on the ProtectUK website that clubs and teams are welcome to use.

You’ll find advice and resources covering subjects including identifying risks, event safety and eLearning for staff and awareness posters.

And if you can’t find what you need on our website – please, tell us. If it means that people can go about their sport in safety, we’re listening.