Clip of the Primark Fire
This short clip shows the early stages of the fire in Belfast's Primark before it spread to the lower floors.
Paper Factory Fire - An Extended Look
"We had in total 20 fire engines and 100 fire fighters". A factory fire in Wolverhampton ripped through the building and was still alight 6 hours after the fire started. Watch an extended look at the devastation and interview with the area commander.
CCTV and GDPR
CCTV Everywhere
The UK is often
cited as being one of the most surveillanced societies in the world. And that’s
because CCTV has proven to be very popular amongst UK homeowners, businesses,
local authorities and police forces. As a result, the country’s citizens are
amongst the most watched in the world. According to the British Security
Industry Association (BSIA) there are between 4-5.9
million CCTV cameras in the country. There are 500,000
cameras in London alone!
Your Image and GDPR
For many years, UK
regulation over image data was relatively light touch. But all that changed in
May via the introduction of the European Union General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR for short). The regulation strengthens the privacy laws
governing the data of EU citizens. And this includes any image data which may
allow individuals to be personally identified.
Brexit Won’t Matter
But before you
think ‘hang on, surely Brexit will change things?’, think again. The UK
Government has declared its intent to write GDPR into UK law.
One of the reasons
for this is to remove any potential barriers to security post-Brexit that might
arise if the UK had an alternative data protection framework. Considering that
‘security’ issues are one of the few areas where it is fervently hoped that
close cooperation with the country’s former EU partners will continue, it’s
extremely likely this regulation is here to stay.
Employers, CCTV and GDPR
There are many
reasons why employers use CCTV, such as to protect assets and to monitor
employees. Lawful bases of employee monitoring include crime prevention,
preventing employee misconduct and ensuring health and safety compliance.
To comply with GDPR
an employer must have a strong, ‘fair use’ reason for the use of CCTV
placement. This means putting together a business case to explain why the
images are being collected, one that must also illustrate how the information
will be stored and when it will be disposed of.
If CCTV is being
installed for any purpose by employers then GDPR requirements must now be at
forefront of all considerations. The rights of employees, customers and other
parties should be addressed, keeping in mind that monitoring is only
permissible if there is a lawful basis for doing so.
Data Storage
Any personal data collected by employers must be used and
kept only to fulfil its original purpose. For instance, if an employee has been filmed
because of suspected criminal activity, the footage should reflect this.
Any data captured
on CCTV can be retained for 30 days in total (although this can be kept longer
if needed, following a risk assessment). One justifiable reason for an
extension in the example above, would be because the police wanted to use the
footage.
Encryption And
Safety
CCTV recordings and
other logs must be stored securely and encrypted wherever possible. When
connected to the Internet or the cloud, CCTV systems are open to cyber-attacks.
The security of the data held can be improved by limiting direct access and
having systems in place to prevent online attacks.
Access to Data
Any individuals
that have been identifiably caught on film have the right to request a copy of
the employers CCTV footage. If the request is valid, the business involved must
supply that footage within 30 days.
Show Them What You’re Doing
‘As
part of a business's’ obligation under the legislation you must tell people
that you are taking their personal data. The most effective way of doing this
is by using prominently placed signs in any area covered by CCTV. This should
be at the entrance to the area, as well as within’ Danny Adamson, Managing
Director of signage makers, Stocksigns
Group, recently told Facilities Management Journal.
Signs
Checklist
- All
signs need to be clear and legible. There can be no confusion
- Signs
should explain why the cameras are there
- They
should also contain information about who is operating them and who to
contact with a query
- Equally,
those responsible for the CCTV operation should be aware of what to do in
the event of a query
- Signs
should be an appropriate in size. If a sign is deemed deliberately small
(i.e. it was meant to viewed from a road but was tiny) then you could be
seen as being in breach of your responsibilities
Penalties
For Breaking the Rules
Failure to do any
of the the above could result in investigation and fines. The GDPR rules have
introduced, new, strict penalties where the personal data protection standards
are not met. Businesses can now be fined up to €20 million or 4 per cent of
turnover (whichever is the highest) if proven to have breached the rules.
Fire Safety for Manufacturing Business
Fire might be man's
oldest friend, but it can still be a deadly enemy too. And in the workplace,
nowhere is that more the case than in manufacturing.
Recent UK Manufacturing Fires
In the early hours
of the morning, on the 11 December 2017, an explosion at the Timet UK metal
smelting plant in Birmingham caused the death of a factory worker.
A few months
earlier in June, the food and drink manufacturer, Princes, suffered a major blaze at their Bradford factory,
one that required 60 firefighters to contain.
And in May, the
Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) factory in Banbury was the location for a fire that necessitated fire crews
from Bicester and Banbury fire stations and fire engines from Warwickshire and
Northamptonshire to bring it under control.
Fire Safety Responsibilities
Despite a fire
safety record in the UK that is healthier today than it was a generation ago,
the above illustrates that blazes do still occur. The responsibility for
stopping them breaking out in the first instance is, under UK law, very much
placed on those in charge.
Under the 2005 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order,
any person who has some level of control over premises must legally take
reasonable steps to reduce the risk from fire and make sure people can safely
escape should one occur.
And What if I Don’t Do Anything?
Well, the short
answer is potential prosecution. Should a fire take place and you, as the
‘person in control’ is suspected of being negligent in your responsibilities,
then depending on the severity of the outcome, the Health & Safety
Executive (HSE) or the Police could choose to investigate.
Prosecutions
And the number of
prosecutions is increasing. In the year to 31 March 2016, for example, the HSE
prosecuted 46 company directors and managers for health and safety violations,
compared to just 12 for the year before. Of these, 12 were sentenced to prison.
What Do I Need to Do?
According to the Order, the ‘person in control’ must:
●
Carry out a fire-risk assessment identifying
any possible dangers and risks
●
Consider who may be especially at
risk
●
Get rid of or reduce the risk from
fire as far as is reasonably possible and provide general fire precautions to
deal with any possible risk left
●
Create a plan to deal with any
emergency and, in most cases, keep a record of the findings
●
Review the findings when necessary
7 Common Fire Safety Risks to Keep in Mind
Taking
Care with Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials
can act as fuel for any fire. If you
don’t have systems and procedures in place, such as safe areas for materials
and activities or a ‘permit to work system’ then it's a very good idea to get
something established. Equally, existing systems can be forgotten in day-to-day
activities, so health and safety staff and fire marshals should be on the
look-out for activities that don’t match up to best practice.
Clean
Up That Dust!
You can’t eliminate
dust entirely but if it settles on surfaces in sufficient volume (often in the
roof) it can reach dangerous levels and become potentially combustible,
resulting in explosion and fire. This can be avoided by adequate ventilation
and by following a regular housekeeping regime.
What’s
the Building Made Of?
The horrifying events at Grenfell Tower have thrown building
construction under the spotlight. Fire Risk Assessments in the past have
sometimes failed to take into account whether the materials used in
construction are suitable. Make sure your assessment takes into account the
material within the structure and also other elements of the building, such as
its design and its occupancy levels.
Can
Employees Use the Equipment Safely?
In 2013-2014 2,000
fires in UK workplaces were caused by a misuse of equipment. To help prevent
this from happening in your business, ensure your staff are trained properly.
It's also a good idea to ensure that safety equipment is available at all
times.
Smoking:
Keep it Under Control
It might be on the
decline nationwide, but smoking is still another common cause of fire in the workplace,
with over a third of deaths in non-domestic buildings being attributed to it.
According to UNISON, employers with 'enclosed
workspaces’ (which have to be smoke free) must by law,
●
display no-smoking signs in
workplaces and work vehicles
●
take reasonable steps to make sure
that staff, customers, members and visitors are aware that they may not smoke
in the premises or in work vehicles
●
make sure that no one smokes on
the premises or in vehicles
Those who don’t
have enclosed workspaces still have a responsibility not to expose their
workers to hazards and must therefore take appropriate steps to prevent or
minimise any risks from smoking.
What To Do What There’s
Change
Updating your risk
assessment is vital. Few businesses remain in a state of stasis and change is
normal. With change can come new risks or alterations to old ones. Whether it's
something like a new extension, the arrival of new machinery or a change in
working practices, the effect on fire safety can be profound.
The Danger of Electricity
Electrical fires
are one of the top five causes of fires in manufacturing plants and can be
created by wiring that is exposed or fitted incorrectly, overloaded outlets,
extension cords, overloaded circuits and machinery left untended.
Ensure that best practice is followed in the
workplace:
●
Don’t overload electrical
equipment or circuits
●
Don’t leave temporary equipment
plugged in when it’s not in use
●
Ensure that qualified
professionals deal with all wiring issues
●
Avoid using extension cords, and
never consider them as long-term solutions
But
Nothing Might Ever Happen?
Even if you’re
lucky enough to not experience a fire, you can still get in trouble if your
fire safety standards are poor. A visit from a local fire officer, as part of a
fire safety audit will check that your fire risk assessment and fire prevention
measures are appropriate. If they are not you can be served with an escalating
list of notices, depending on the risk.
What if I ignore Them?
Well, you could be
fined or go to prison if you don’t follow fire safety regulations. Minor
penalties can be up to £5,000. Major penalties can have unlimited fines and up
to 2 years in prison.
The Role of a Fire Warden
Making sure workers are fire safety trained in your office is a requirement under the legislation, but what does it take to fulfil the role of fire warden? Watch this video to find out.
The History of CCTV
If you’ve been out
today, there’s a very good chance that you’ve been caught on camera. As of
2016, there are about 350 million CCTV cameras worldwide. We have become a
planet under surveillance.
In the Beginning
The CCTV camera has
a somewhat inauspicious origin story. The technology was first used by Seimens
AG for the Nazis in 1942. The cameras
were installed at Test Stand VII in Peenemunde, Germany, for observing the launch
of V-2 rockets.
This was a very basic system that could only be used
for live monitoring. They technology did not yet exist for such systems to
record footage.
Rumble in the Jungle
One of the earliest
applications of CCTV came via the world of boxing, where it was used as a form
of pay-per-view theatre TV.
Boxing telecasts
were broadcast live to a select number of venues where viewers paid for tickets
to watch the fight live.
The first fight to
be broadcast via CCTV was Joe Lewis vs. Joe Walcott in 1948. These
telecasts grew in popularity, peaking with the iconic fights of Muhammad Ali in
the 1960s and 1970s. Possibly his most famous tussle, the ‘Rumble
in the Jungle’
against George Foreman in Zaire (modern day Congo) drew 50 million CCTV viewers worldwide in 1974.
Fighting Crime
Although the city
of Hamburg in Germany had used CCTV to monitor traffic coming to its annual
industrial trade fair in the late 1950s, the first use of such systems to
tackle crime, which is what we associate CCTV with today, began in the 1960s.
The UK became an
early pioneer, when the Metropolitan Police used two temporary cameras in
Trafalgar Square to monitor crowds who had come to see to the arrival of the
Thai royal family.
The USA then set
the pace, starting with the city of Olean, New York, which in 1968 became the
first local authority to install video cameras along its main business street
in an effort to fight crime. Olean’s example started a trend which would see
several towns and cities across the USA adopt this new technology.
VCR-
The Game Changer
A significant
development in the history of CCTV occurred when video cassette recordings
(VCRs) became widely available in the 1970s. This technology was quickly
adopted and incorporated into
surveillance systems.
It was now no
longer necessary for people to monitor the screens live. Instead, the systems
could be set up and left to run independently. Users could then review what had
been recorded at a later time. This made CCTV much more popular among
businesses.
CCTV and the UK
CCTV has proven to
be very popular amongst businesses, local authorities and police forces in the
UK. The country’s citizens are amongst the most surveilled in the world.
According to the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) there are between
4-5.9 million CCTV cameras in the
country. There are 500,000 cameras in London alone, with some of most watched
locations being:
Oxford
Circus: 309 cameras
Green
Park: 210 cameras
Bank/Monument:
182 cameras
It’s Not Big Brother!
Although the stereotypical image of the CCTV
camera is that of one owned by the government (Big Brother is Watching You!),
in reality the majority of cameras in the UK are privately owned.
Why has
CCTV Become so Popular?
Technical
developments, such as the ability to record at night, digitisation and
networking have helped broaden the appeal of the technology. But equally
important has been the evidence that illustrates CCTV’s effectiveness in
fighting crime.
For example, a 2009
review by researchers from Northeastern University and the University of Cambridge, which
looked at over 40 different studies that
had researched the impact of CCTV
on crime levels, found that :
●
CCTV caused a significant
reduction of crime by on average 16 per cent
●
The largest effects of CCTV were
found in car parks, where cameras reduced crime by on average 51 per cent
●
In
city and town centres CCTV schemes had 7 per cent reduction in crime and
in public transport settings the reduction was 23 per cent
CCTV for Business
A recent study by the University of Leicester found what
most businesses have realised for some time,
that CCTV is a great deterrent for pre-planned crime. It seems that
criminals actively avoid stealing from premises that appear knowledgeable about
crime and prevention.
Considering that
the average burglary costs a business £1,376 per incident, it’s easy to
understand why CCTV has become so popular and why so many businesses are
willing to invest in it.
But There are
Controversies
The expansion of
CCTV, both in the UK and elsewhere, has not come without controversy. The idea
of being constantly monitored, of the state being able to follow your every
move has made some people wary and led others to suggest that we are heading
towards a ‘surveillance society.’
There have also
been concerns that the large amounts of cash spent on CCTV does not result in
good value for money. Critics point out that the UK’s crime rate is not
dissimilar to other, less surveillanced, countries and that the money invested
in CCTV might be better spent on more police officers, local authority
employees (park keepers, toilet attendants) or bus/train conductors.
The
Future?
With new technology arriving, such as 4K,
which can greatly enhance an image and lessen the number of cameras needed,
it’s unlikely that we will see CCTV disappear from our streets any time soon.
The UK fell in love with being watched and it's a romance that looks in no
danger of fizzling out.
Devastation of Warehouse Fires from Above
Footage of the Drayton Fields Industial Warehouse taken from a drone shows the destruction fire can cause.
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