A specialist UK police unit has drawn up response plans for organisations likely to experience terrorist attacks, and has begun running training courses for employers.
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) has published two guides to help managers of hotels and restaurants and other businesses that attract large numbers of people to “identify the measures to take for preventing, handling and recovering from a terrorist attack”.
‘Secure in the Knowledge’ focuses on business continuity while ‘Expecting the Unexpected’ is a smaller guide to security and information sharing.
The initiative Project Argus held an event last month in Scotland, where a seminar took participants through the aftermath of a hypothetical car bombing in a commercial district of a city.
Similar training sessions will continue throughout the rest of the year, taking managers of larger firms on training exercises which simulate terrorist attacks.
NaCTSO has told employers that attract large numbers of guests that they are prime targets for terror attacks.
“Attacks around the world have shown that terrorists will attack those targets they perceive as being attractive. Among the likely targets for international terrorists are locations with comparatively limited protective security measures which afford the potential for terrorists to cause mass casualties,” its website said.
“In the worst case scenario your staff and customers could be killed or injured, and your premises destroyed or damaged in a ‘no warning’, co-ordinated terrorist attack.”
