Martyn’s Law: Is your business Protect Duty ready?

Protect Duty, also known as Martyn’s Law, is a proposed piece of legislation that will apply across the whole of the United Kingdom and is expected to come into force within late 2023.

It aims to better protect visitors, staff and the wider public from terrorism in public spaces, including entertainment venues, places of worship, museums and government buildings.

The proposed legislation outlines what is needed for organisations to comply. As a company RKMS group are ahead of the curve when looking at legislation, in particular Protect Duty.

John A Keen, CEO, RKMS Group, said: "As a consultancy firm based on the Fylde Coast and with our team’s knowledge base, we are well positioned to advise venues on their compliance to the legislation. Not only for high-capacity venues but also for organisations that take first aid of their visitors seriously.”

Martyn’s Law will follow a tiered model linked to activity that takes place at a location and its capacity aimed to prevent undue burden on businesses.

A standard tier will apply to locations with a maximum capacity of over 100 which can undertake low-cost, simple yet effective activities to improve preparedness. This will include training, information sharing and completion of a preparedness plan to embed practices, such as locking doors to delay attackers progress or knowledge on lifesaving treatments that can be administered by staff whilst awaiting emergency services.

An enhanced tier will focus on high-capacity locations in recognition of the potential consequences of a successful attack. Locations with a capacity of over 800 people at any time, will additionally be required to undertake a risk assessment to inform the development and implementation of a thorough security plan. Subsequent measures could include developing a vigilance and security culture, implementation of physical measures like CCTV or new systems and processes to enable better consideration of security.

Rebecca Keen, operations director, RKMS Group, said: "Working with many businesses within the hospitality sector, as well as corporate organisations, we are able to provide adequate training and advice to not only upskill teams but also bring an element of confidence that your team require."

The government will establish an inspection and enforcement regime, promoting compliance and positive cultural change and issuing credible and fair sanctions for serious breaches.

RKMS Group are your ‘One Stop Shop for Compliance’ offering a wide range of training from accredited courses and online courses to bespoke awareness courses. If Martyn’s Law is going to affect you, please reach out to see how we can help.