A Police perspective
In June I reported on the work we have done with ACPO (Association of Cheif Police Officers) and the subsequent commendation received. Three months on and I wanted to write an update, specifically following further discussions held.
The police are very keen to see credible alarms raised and persued but are clearly concerned by the risk of false alarms and their ability to assist an employer when it comes to taking action against those being agressive towards lone workers.
As well as focusing on the method and technology used to raise an alarm, ACPO are also looking at the need for credible, reliable and resiliant escalation paths to be defined, managed and maintained. In the same way as commercial and domestic building alarms are closely regulared and audited if a police response is required, the same will shortly apply to alarming systems for lone workers. The police will want to start to allocate a Unique Reference Number (URN) to such alarm systems.
So what should you be looking for when chosing a system. Well, you should ensure that alarms are routed and managed by a credible alarm receiving centre, ideally one that meets BS5979 Cat II. This standard will ensure that your alarms are managed in a closely controlled environment and that your data (e.g. audio recordings, user info etc..) is kept safely in in such as a way as it remain evidentially intact. It is highly likely that before too long the Police will only respond to alarms that are routed through a BS5979 receiving centre and that have been qualified as being genuine. This is the same model that exists for building and vehicle alarms today.
The alarm receiving centre should also be able to prove to you that it regularly handles alerts coming from people and is qualified to assess the severity of a situation before deciding upon a proportional and appropriate escalation. Any credible centre will also offer to provide you with regular reporting on activity so that users can be further trained or assessed when required.
If you need any assistance in selecting an alarm receiving centre then please let me know, I'd be very happy to help.
The police are very keen to see credible alarms raised and persued but are clearly concerned by the risk of false alarms and their ability to assist an employer when it comes to taking action against those being agressive towards lone workers.
As well as focusing on the method and technology used to raise an alarm, ACPO are also looking at the need for credible, reliable and resiliant escalation paths to be defined, managed and maintained. In the same way as commercial and domestic building alarms are closely regulared and audited if a police response is required, the same will shortly apply to alarming systems for lone workers. The police will want to start to allocate a Unique Reference Number (URN) to such alarm systems.
So what should you be looking for when chosing a system. Well, you should ensure that alarms are routed and managed by a credible alarm receiving centre, ideally one that meets BS5979 Cat II. This standard will ensure that your alarms are managed in a closely controlled environment and that your data (e.g. audio recordings, user info etc..) is kept safely in in such as a way as it remain evidentially intact. It is highly likely that before too long the Police will only respond to alarms that are routed through a BS5979 receiving centre and that have been qualified as being genuine. This is the same model that exists for building and vehicle alarms today.
The alarm receiving centre should also be able to prove to you that it regularly handles alerts coming from people and is qualified to assess the severity of a situation before deciding upon a proportional and appropriate escalation. Any credible centre will also offer to provide you with regular reporting on activity so that users can be further trained or assessed when required.
If you need any assistance in selecting an alarm receiving centre then please let me know, I'd be very happy to help.
posted by Craig Swallow at 2:36 PM
0 comments
