As insurers will be quick to tell you, the terrorism threat worldwide is expanding rapidly – making preparation vital. Two years ago, a truck deliberately drove through a Christmas market in Berlin, for example, killing 12 people and leaving dozens injured. This incident underscores the reality of large holiday crowds as potential terrorism targets, and drives up the possibility of costly insurance claims.
With this in mind, Counter Terrorism Policing is bringing a ‘whole society’ approach to its new winter advertising campaign as part of the larger ACT: Actions Counter Terrorism programme.
The ‘Step Change’ initiative aims to mitigate the impact of terrorist incidents by encouraging businesses that operate in crowded areas to participate in a free online e-Learning course called ACT Awareness. The online course, which was developed in partnership with Marks & Spencer, was designed to teach participants how to identify and report suspicious behaviour and what to do in case a terrorist attack takes place.
If you work in a business that operates in crowded areas such as sport stadia, tourist attractions, bars, theatres, and shopping centres, then participating in this initiative is seen as crucial.
“All staff working in crowded places – not just those who have a security role – can follow the ACT Awareness e-Learning course and be in a stronger position to help protect themselves, colleagues and the public,” said Chief Superintendent Nick Aldworth, the national coordinator for protect and prepare.
Another component of the initiative is the ‘Sixty Second Security’ plan that provides businesses with a checklist of what to do in case of a terrorist attack. Business should nominate a point person as the primary decision maker in case of a terrorist attack. Employees should know where all the points of entry and exit are located, know where to hide during an attack, and know how to get updates after an attack.
Superintendent Aldworth said that it is the responsibility of businesses to make sure that their employees are adequately briefed.
“I would also like to ask retailers and other businesses to consider my ‘Sixty Second Security’ plan, which is a quick checklist of questions every member of staff should be able to answer in order to drastically improve reaction times in the event of an emergency,” he said.
“By working alongside those businesses, we have learnt from that experience and I believe that our ‘Sixty Second Security’ plan will better prepare us to deal with something similar in the future.”
