Safer Doors in major clash with BBC's Antiques Roadshow

28 Aug 08

The date of the 2008 Safer Doors Conference has been changed due to a double-booking with the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

Conference co-ordinator Andy Walker isn’t best pleased that the event has had to be moved following so much pre-publicity and time-consuming mailshots. The original date for the conference – Wednesday 15 October – is now a non-starter as organisers at the Bridlington Spa Royal Hall in East Yorkshire discovered they’ve double-booked the venue with none other than the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, hosted by popular newsreader Fiona Bruce.

The venue for the Safer Doors Conference remains the same, as does the programme of events and timings. It’s just the date that changes. The new date is Thursday 6 November.

“Given all the work we’ve put in this is a little unfortunate,” said Walker in conversation with SMT’s Editor Brian Sims, “but we’ve managed to bag some concessions from the venue management which will make our event that bit better. People still have plenty of time to book, and we are far enough away from the day that schedules can be rearranged.”

The ONLY national conference

The Safer Doors Conference is the ONLY national conference for the door supervision sector of the private security industry, having begun life in 2001. This year’s event is promising to be “bigger and better” than ever, covering a whole range of subjects relevant to the sector.

The day starts at 10.30 am with an address from Mike Wilson, chief executive at the SIA. Mike will be discussing the performance of the Regulator, focusing on the Call Centre, compliance and enforcement. There’ll also be discussion in relation to making licensing more modular, and the ways in which the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) might be made more attractive to door supervisor companies.

Following Mike at 10.45 am is Tony Holyland, the SIA’s competency development manager, who’ll be explaining the Regulator’s latest thinking on changes to Basic Job Training for licensing (and what the re-training criteria for licensing might be next time around).

There’ll also be a talk from an active, licensed door supervisor (as yet unnamed) who’ll discuss regulation and training from the perspective of the front line operative.

Violence towards door supervisors

Following morning coffee and a chance for delegates to visit the accompanying exhibition, Andy Perkins will take to the podium at 11.40 am to deliver the results of his national survey regarding the levels of violence being shown towards door supervisors in the UK. Andy’s research – conducted in parallel with the University of Leicester – recognises ‘door supervision’ as a professional occupational cartegory. He has apparently obtained some fascinating data from door staff in a bold attempt to establish how much violence they experience on a daily basis.

At 11.55 am, Claire Vanneck will then be explaining her findings in a survey she has carried out regarding the SIA, occupational licensing, training and working conditions in the sector. The findings of this research were designed to assess the impact of recent policy changes towards the door supervisor industry implemented by way of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

Just after noon, Alan Savill of Leicestershire-based Mannix Security – a company specialising in the training and provision of detection dogs to search for drugs and explosives – will be explaining how he trains and works his dogs, and discuss the best ways in which to deploy dogs in the leisure security environment. Live demonstrations will be given on the day, too.

Preventing sexual assault and rape

Following luncheon, the 1.45 pm slot is given over to Graham Rhodes from The Roofie Foundation, who is going to talk about a thorny subject – drug-facilitated sexual assualt and drug-based rape in the night-time economy. Rhodes is due to explain what types of drugs are currently being used to commit these crimes, what they look, smell and taste like, what their effects can be and, importantly, what pub and club security staff ought to be doing to try and reduce the chances of someone becoming a victim in their venue.

An hour later, Geoff Woodcock – an ex-police officer, security trainer and accredited consultant and assessor for the ACS – will be talking about what it really means (in terms of the time, costs and work involved) to achieve approval as a leisure security company.

At 3.20 pm, David Ottewill from insurer Camberford Law plc is giving a discourse on the recently-introduced Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. What does this new legislation mean for leisure security companies and their employees? Ottewill will talk about the implications of the legislation, and explain what can be done by companies to prevent themselves falling foul of the law.

Towards the end of the afternoon, all of the speakers will take to the stage for the Safer Doors Forum Question Time. It’s going to be a lively debate, and shouldn’t be missed.

It’s admission by pre-booked tickets only

The Safer Doors Conference is a strictly ticket-only event, so you need to book in advance if you wish to attend. All tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis, and once capacity is achieved there will be no additional tickets issued.

If you would like an Application Form then please e-mail Andy Walker at: andy@safer-doors.co.uk. Further details are also available on the dedicated web site (see the panel on the right hand side of this page for details).