Archive for September, 2009

Every Tuesday in the UK demos take place across the South against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) vivisection labs, the largest contract testing lab in Europe. Novartis in Southampton and Horsham are regular targets of activists.

As we reported a while ago because activists have been all but banned from targeting HLS HQ they have turned their attentions to any company that may have links, directly or indirectly to HLS.

Some at risk firms may be unaware they are or could be targeted. Law firms, packaging firms accountancies etc etc. If you believe you could be targeted then talk to us.

Every Tuesday or Wednesday and Friday

Novartis are customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the largest contract testing lab in Europe.

Demos take place against Novartis in Horsham and Southampton who conduct primate experiments on site as well as funding experiments directly at HLS. Demos start at varying times each Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday.

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) also hold multiple demos across the South Coast weekly. If you are a potential target of these demos then please ensure you and your staff are prepared.

If you require advice and/or Personal Safety training please call us immediately.

For more information about the new NACTSO guidelines for Hotels and Restaurants please follow the link.

http://www.nactso.gov.uk/documents/Hotels%20and%20Restaurants%202009.pdf

We reported the new NACTSO guidelines on Saturday 26 Sept 09.

For help advice or general enquiries please call or email us.

A suicide bomber who was detonated in the same room as a Saudi Prince who is in charge of counter terror is believed to have had the explosive device inside himself. The device is believed to have been detonated by mobile phone.

The bomber, a Saudi Al Qaeda fugitive said he was ready to give himself up but would only give himself up to the prince. The prince agreed and the fugitive was given safe passage to a rendezvous in Jeddah. Once in the same room he was detonated. The prince was unharmed and only the bomber died. The device left a considerable crater and its believed the saving grace was that the blast went downwards.

Security and Intelligence chiefs are extremely worried at this turning point as it renders airport security metal detectors useless.

Peter Neuman of Kings College London says the case will be studied intensively, and that there are “tremendous implications for airport security with the potential of making it even more complicated to get on to your plane”.

“If it really is true that the metal detectors couldn’t detect this person’s hidden explosive device, that would mean that the metal detectors as they currently exist in airports are pretty much useless,” he said.

New from the NACTSO – guidance for hotels and restaurants.

NACTSO has produced guidance for hotels and restaurants to ensure they are better prepared for any terror attack.

The guidance says: “It is recognised that there is a need to maintain a friendly and welcoming atmosphere within the hotel and restaurant environments and this guide is not intended to create a ‘fortress mentality’.

There is however a balance to be achieved where those responsible for security are informed that there are robust protective security measures available to mitigate against the threat of terrorism, eg protection from flying glass and vehicle access controls into crowded areas, goods and service yards and underground car parks.”

As the document points out, the June 2007 failed bombers at Haymarket in central London and others target crowded places, whether night-clubs, or – as is in the public domain after a terrorist court trial – shopping malls such as Bluewater.

The guide stresses also business continuity planning, to ensure that your premises can cope with an incident or attack and return to ‘business as usual’ as soon as possible.

Foreign criminals are trafficking children as young as three months old into Britain and using them to defraud the benefits system of millions of pounds, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Children are taken from their families, brought to Britain and used for fraudulent benefit claims involving forged immigration documents and employment records.

In many cases the children are trafficked with the complicity of their parents. They are trained in street crime and placed with unrelated adults to enable fake benefit claims to be paid into accounts controlled by the trafficker.

In a police operation earlier this month in northeast London, four suspected child victims of trafficking from Romania were placed in foster care.

Officers found evidence of suspected benefit crime in excess of £100,000

Intelligence chiefs have warned that China may have gained the capability to shut down Britain by crippling its telecoms and utilities.

They have told ministers of their fears that equipment installed by Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, in BT’s new communications network could be used to halt critical services such as power, food and water supplies.

The warnings coincide with growing cyberwarfare attacks on Britain by foreign governments, particularly Russia and China.

The UK current threat level is assessed as

SUBSTANTIAL

The response level is as your organisation sees fit to be able to meet the Threat.

Website: http://www.mi5.gov.uk/

If you are considering Control and Restraint (C&R;) training then be very careful who you train through.

There are now BTEC Short Courses in Control and Restraint which are structured correctly in content and these courses have been developed in association with the National Federation of Personal Safety (NFPS)

The thing that has NOT been finalised is what standard the training provider instructors have to meet in order to deliver the qualifications.

We have done research in this area and have been told by Companies that their Instructors are “the best”, coming from Martial Arts background etc etc. No company we asked mentioned any vocational accreditation through organisations like the NFPS. Martial Arts is recreational and NOT vocational and Martial Arts does not make good Control and Restraint technique.

While C&R; does have roots in Martial Arts it has been adapted to be able to work in the real world and not just the Dojo floor.

More worryingly companies are teaching basket holds, prone restraint, neck holds. All of these techniques have been proved to increase the risk of Death. The Police Research Group (PRG) issued Paper 26 in the early 90s which said that Officers should avoid prone restraint because it greatly increased the risk of Death and serious injury through Positional Asphyxia.

You are increasing the risk of causing serious injury to the customer if you don’t do due diligence in the selection of training providers. Ask questions and ask to see accreditation’s and certification of competence etc etc.

We are more than able to provide FREE impartial advice in this area with a view to clear out the charlatan training providers who give the professionals a bad name and degrade the industry just to make a fast buck, YOUR FAST BUCK.

Our second Weekend Door Supervisor course finished on Sun 20 Sept and was a great success. While a couple of people on the course recognised that relying on Public transport, especially on a Sunday was a pain the benefits of being able to gain a licensed qualification over 3 days, 2 of which are a weekend was priceless.

Most of those who attended said they would not be able to get time off to do the more traditional 4 Working Day course.

SPP Solutions would like to thank the enthusiasm and impeccable timekeeping of ALL candidates and wish them well in their future careers whatever that may be.

Our next weekend Door Supervisor course is being held at out Langstone Technology Park HQ over the weekend of the 30 Oct – 01 Nov 2009.

Call 02392 415540 or email info@sppsolutions.com for more information.