NOP research suggests only a third of employees know that their company is putting measures in place to combat the terrorist threat
The business community must take a pro-active stance in the war against terrorism, deploying measures to protect both buildings and people against attack by bombs and/or chemical and biological weapons. Alas, only one third of employees questioned in a poll carried out by NOP knew that their employer was putting in place measures to protect against the perceived threat.

Conducted for integrated security solutions provider Johnson Controls, the survey of 522 employees from various business sectors around the UK shows marked regional differences in how company employees view their security provision at work. Against the backdrop of the Iraq conflict and higher profile terrorist activity, it's probably not surprising that employees in London and the south east feel more vulnerable than their northern and Midlands counterparts.

Mike Britnell, Johnson Controls' director of security programmes for Europe, believes that employers can do much more. Britnell told SMT: "Businesses need to reassure their people that they're taking measures to protect them. The security climate around the world has changed. In reality, the threat to most corporates has not increased that significantly. What has changed is our perception of the threat. As a result of that, some employees have changed their views on what is an acceptable risk."

Britnell points out that across Europe many of the larger companies are visibly auditing their security provision, closing gaps, enhancing access control and increasing their reliance on monitoring systems.

"Purely commercial organisations are unlikely to suffer at the hands of terrorists, but it's still sensible to take extra precautions," said Britnell. "It's important to be seen to do so, too. It must be stressed that there's a compelling business case for being open with members of staff about what's being done to protect them."

There are several areas that companies can look at. "In terms of physical and perimeter security," added Britnell, "check that your site can be secured around its perimeter and that the CCTV systems, alarms, locks and other access controls are working as they should." If the threat level is suddenly increased, Britnell suggests that in-house professionals must know what that means for their own installation. "Make sure that higher levels of security can be instigated at short notice," he commented.

Similarly, all security personnel on site – whether in-house or contracted – must know what's expected of them if the threat level is suddenly heightened.

"Consider looking at your building from the outside with the safety of your people in mind," added Britnell. "Any building which is considered to be more exposed to explosive threats should have a designated safe area to which people can be directed in the event of an external threat."

Source

SMT