SSAIB News

The 2021 edition of The Standard, SSAIB’s annual magazine, is making its way to SSAIB-certified firms with the latest issue of Security Matters magazine.

With our partnership with publishers Western Business Media Limited entering its fourth year, certified firms of the leading UKAS-accredited certification body for the fire and security industries will receive free copies of both The Standard and Security Matters to their registered address.

As the main talking point of the last 12 months, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it has had on the industry feature in a number of articles within this newly re-branded issue.

Chief executive Alex Carmichael assesses the impact that the coronavirus had on SSAIB, how it affected our working practices and he also touches on the ways in which we were able to successfully continue to provide certification to both existing firms and new firms within the security and fire industries throughout what have been challenging times for everyone.

New scheme managers Richard Deacon and Lynn Watts-Plumpkin discuss their new roles overseeing the Security Systems and Security Services schemes respectively and assess some of the challenges that working from home during a pandemic has thrown up while settling into a new job.

There are also in-depth articles on the Master Locksmiths Association’s MLA Expo for 2021 and the Fire, Emergency and Security Systems (FESS) apprenticeship standard, with the latter also being discussed as part of SSAIB training manager Trevor Jenks’ latest piece on the future of the industry.

As the Official Installer Partner for IFSEC and FIREX, we also have IFSEC Global editor James Moore on board to offer a summary on the most recent global trends within the industry – in addition to SSAIB’s field operations manager, David Roscoe, who has provided the latest standards updates for both the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Ember Compliance discuss a practical path for SSAIB firms to achieve certification for fire detection and alarms systems. Meanwhile, to bring us full-circle, the Association of Security Consultants consider how much the security landscape has changed in a COVID-19 world.

There are also the usual updates from every SSAIB scheme manager, as well as features from regular contributors BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) and Openreach. SSAIB have also used this year’s edition of The Standard to celebrate long-serving operations manager Dave Profit and administrator Joan Denley – after the pair recently passed 25 years of dedicated service with SSAIB.

Should any SSAIB-certified firm not receive their copy of The Standard, please email [email protected] so that we can organise a replacement to be sent out.

SSAIB are proud to announce that we have achieved accreditation for BAFE’s SP207 scheme for emergency evacuation systems, which are used by Fire and Rescue services to prioritise evacuation from residential high rise buildings and ensure people at risk in endangered areas can be safely evacuated.

Supporting British Standard 8629 Evacuation Alert Systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats, this new development from BAFE – the UK’s independent register of quality fire safety providers - covers the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of emergency evacuations systems that will help to provide quality evidence of competency to deliver these services.

And SSAIB fire scheme manager Keith Strugnell believes this new scheme has the potential to become an essential addition for organisations looking to provide evacuation systems.

Discussing the SP207 scheme in the upcoming edition of SSAIB’s annual magazine The Standard, Keith revealed: “Developed in response to a recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Phase 1 inquiry report, it is likely to become a requirement that you will need to be third-party certified to work on emergency evacuation systems going forward.

“However, despite it being a brand new scheme, existing SSAIB-registered SP203-1 firms will find it comparable to their own scheme – as it utilises a similar format, albeit that the scheme document has been changed to make it more relevant to emergency evacuation systems. Therefore, in theory, you will satisfy the requirements for SP207 by default if you already have SP203-1.

BAFE announced the scheme in the final quarter of 2020 and Keith went on to reveal that the leading UKAS-accredited certification body for the fire and security industries acted promptly to ensure that the organisation could add SP207 to its existing catalogue of BAFE fire schemes.

Keith continued: “With regards to SSAIB, we completed training with BS 8629:2019 for our auditors and scheduled several pilot audits for those initial companies to achieve certification for this latest scheme that we provide certification for to the fire industry. We then collated all of the necessary criteria that was needed for our information packs and then we were ready to go.

Through doing all this, it has allowed us to successfully add to our list of fire schemes and ensure that our firms are able to keep up with the latest industry developments.”

BAFE’s director of schemes, Chris Auger, added: “The demand shown following the MHCLG consultation is unprecedented and represents a far greater awareness of systems and competency of their installers required following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower Fire.

“With the work BAFE have performed in conjunction with the industry and Fire and Rescue Service, we are pleased to offer a route to achieving this important third-party certification. Quality evidence of competency is going to have far greater scrutiny for everyone working in high-rise blocks in the very near future which can only be a good thing. This scheme will fill this crucial gap in providing confidence to specifiers knowing they are fulfilling their due diligence and continuing the ‘golden thread’ of accountability for the life safety of residents within the building.

“The expanding portfolio of BAFE schemes represents the necessity of quality evidence of competency required for niche, but extremely important, areas of the industry. Third-party certification is going to be a key focus of attention for the built environment moving forward and BAFE need to position itself to offer schemes that are both needed and, reflect the current concerns of occupants, regulators, service providers and building owners/managers.”

More information on BAFE SP207 – and all of the other fire schemes certified by SSAIB – is available at www.ssaib.org or, alternatively, please send an email to [email protected] requesting an information pack for the scheme(s) that you require.

The Home Secretary has appointed Fraser Sampson as the Government’s new independent Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner – replacing the two part-time posts of the Biometrics Commissioner and Surveillance Camera Commissioner.

The recruitment campaign was conducted in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. The statutory responsibilities and duties for both roles will remain the same.

Fraser Sampson, who took up his post on March 1, will promote compliance with the Surveillance Camera Code and rules on police use of DNA and fingerprints.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I am pleased to appoint Fraser Sampson as the new Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner.

“It is vital the Government works to empower Police to use technology to keep the public safe, while maintaining their trust, and Fraser Sampson’s extensive experience in law and policing makes him the right person to take up this role.”

Fraser added: “I’m delighted to have been appointed to cover these two distinct, but increasingly overlapping, roles. I look forward to working with all partners, in what is a fast-moving and challenging area of balancing the public interest considerations with the rights of individuals.”

Fraser was formerly an Honorary professor and research fellow at Sheffield Hallam University and he is also a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

Between 2016 and 2019, he was chief executive of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in North Yorkshire. Between 2006 and 2019, he was the chief executive and general counsel for the Police & Crime Commissioner in West Yorkshire and the executive director of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority.

He has also previously worked as a Police officer for West Yorkshire Police and the British Transport Police between 1982 and 1996.

The Biometrics Commissioner and Surveillance Camera Commissioner roles were established by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which introduced the regime to govern the retention and use by the Police of DNA samples, profiles and fingerprints, and to promote appropriate overt use of surveillance camera systems by relevant authorities in England and Wales.

With nominations set to close in early April, there is less than a month to go, SSAIB firms should act fast to get their nominations in for this year’s IFSEC Global Influencers in Security & Fire awards!

The awards continue to go from strength to strength – as they aim to recognise the talent and efforts of some of the leading individuals in the security and fire safety sectors.

Nominations will remain open until April 1, 2021 and will be compiled alongside the judge nominations after this date. The judging panel is once again made up of highly respected security and fire safety professionals, spanning several regions from the UK and Europe, to Africa, Asia and North and South America.

Make your nomination here!

Categories for the 2021 IFSEC Global influencers are:

- Security executives (the senior most official in an enterprise, whose primary duties encompass leading and managing security for the enterprise)

- Security – end users (e.g. heads of security, managers of security teams)

- Security – manufacturers/vendors/installers/integrators (those displaying exemplary work in the field of installation or specific projects, as well as technological innovation)

- Security – thought leadership (e.g. association figures, academics)

- Security – One to watch (Specifically for championing the sector’s rising stars, nominees should have worked in the industry for no longer than five years)

- Cyber security professionals and thought leaders

- Fire – all disciplines (UK only)

How Does IFSEC Global Define Influential?

This could be anyone:

- Who has played a key role in driving technological innovation

- Who has been a driving force in changing regulation, standards/guidance or best practice in their location/market

- Someone whose insights/opinions are widely respected and which are influential in shaping debate around industry issues

- Someone who has been instrumental in the success of the organisation or business they lead or are employed by

- Someone who has helped to raise the industry’s profile or been an influential voice in the national media

Nominations are welcomed from all aspects of the industry, and it is important to highlight why you believe the nominee to be influential, by describing some of the recent work they have carried out in the sector. The competition is fierce!

To find out more about the awards and check out this year’s judging panel, click here.

Follow this link to make your nomination.

SSAIB are proud to have been named as one of the sponsors for this year’s ACS Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Awards.

The 2021 ceremony will take place on June 16, 2021 and SSAIB are one of six sponsors announced for the awards, which will be the seventh occasion that the exceptional actions of on-duty front-line security staff have been celebrated.

Along with the other five sponsors – Centralus, First Response Group Ltd, Orka Works, Security & Vetting Solutions Ltd and Tracktik – SSAIB will also put their name to two Security Officer of Distinction Awards, which will be handed out to officers who have gone above and beyond for both their employer and the client to whom they are contracted.

SSAIB chief executive Alex Carmichael commented: “We are thrilled to be able to throw our support behind the 2021 ACS Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Awards.

“With SSAIB being one of the UKAS-accredited certification bodies that offers the SIA’s Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS), we see first-hand the outstanding work that security services personnel do on a day-to-day basis and it is great that an awards event such as this exists – in order to give them industry recognition and reward them for their exceptional efforts.”

Nominations for the 2021 ACS Pacesetters Awards can be made up until the closing date of March 26, 2021 and a copy of the nomination form can be downloaded from the ACS Pacesetters’ website.