Sept 2011 - Issue 6 - National Federation of Fish Friers

THE fish friers REVIEW
Best Buy?
1# - Security
Just like in any industry, when running
a fish and chip shop there is always a
vast number of different options and
products to consider if investing in the
improvement of a specific area of your
business. In the first of a new run of
features to help our readers make the
right decisions we profile a number of
different options for that all important
area of shop security.
As any successful business owner well knows, protecting your hard earned assets, be it bricks and mortar, staff or even reputation is
sound thinking. Whether or not the threat of criminality has increased over the years, one thing for sure is that the technology used
to deal with this threat is more sophisticated and astute than ever before. Speaking with Michael McDougal of security experts The
Protector Group we profile a number of different scenarios commonly putting fish and chip shops at risk and look at some of the best
solutions available.
Situation: Young people congregating outside
your shop leading to anti-social
behaviour or shop vandalism?
Solution: Anti vandal systems.
A system such as the Mosquito anti vandal system can be installed outside
your premises; this is essentially an alarm that emits a very high (ultrasonic)
tone that is completely harmless even with long term use.
This system works by ingeniously generating a high pitched, near ultrasonic
tone at around 17 KHz, which is close to the limit of the hearing range
of people under 25 years old, so for groups of young people hanging about
outside your shop, they will soon want to leave the area. Because of natural
age related hearing loss, people over the age of 30 either only just hear or
in most cases are totally unaware of the noise. It can be activated by a
timer, remote control or an infra-red sensor and will cut off when
programmed to. It can also be set to generate a sound deterring people of
any age.
The mosquito has been rigorously tested and approved by various official health and safety, standards authorities across the world, including the
NHS (National Health Service), NPL (National Physical Laboratory) and RCPCH (Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health) in the UK, ensuring it
complies with HSE report 343/2001.
Situation: Keeping your shop safe and secure and
ensuring staff are working appropriately.
Solution: CCTV and monitoring equipment.
The placement of suitably positioned surveillance equipment has long been used in
businesses as a way of detecting theft or other criminal behaviour, but with the development
of broadband internet access and other similar communications technology, the use of
these systems to monitor your premises on-site or remotely, for a variety of reasons, is now
becoming far more commonplace. Remote viewing can be managed through pc’s,
smartphones or any screen with a broadband connection, meaning managers and business
owners have the capability to keep a watch on the day to day running of a business without
needing to be there during every shift. Improved memory systems also means that days of
footage can be accessed quickly and easily too.
Monitoring staff reflects the motivation of an organised and professional business. Reasons
for investing in these types of systems include:-
Checking the quality of customer service
Reviewing staff skills and competencies used in their job
Confirming any fraudulent, criminal or otherwise illegal or undesirable conduct by your staff that you suspect
Observing the application of health and safety rules
Finding out if staff require training by observing their performance
Ensuring compliance with the law or an internal employment policy, e.g. on email and internet usage
Issue 6 September 2011
However, if you do decide to invest in these systems you must first ensure that you balance your need for information as an employer with a
respect for your employees' privacy. Workers have the right to access any personal information on them that you collect via monitoring. Therefore,
your monitoring systems must be capable of meeting this need and other data protection requirements. It’s important to inform staff why you are
monitoring them. If it's not clear why you are monitoring workers, they may feel you don't trust them.
Staff safety is another strong case for using this technology. As an employer you are responsible for ensuring the safety and security of your
workers. It should be common policy to carry out a risk assessment and then take action to reduce the chances of those risks actually arising,
such as CCTV. Fish and chip shops can often leave staff vulnerable with situations such as cash-handling, late-night working or smaller number of
workers commonplace so this can be an important justification to consider for this technology.
Situation: Shop disruption such as assault, theft or anti-social
behaviour.
Solution: DNA Spray.
Operating primarily as a cash business means that fish and chip shops can unfortunately be targeted by
thieves as a supposed ‘soft target’. Along with fish and chips still being favoured as a popular post pub snack
in many city centres across the country leads to a familiar conclusion that shops are often vulnerable to
robberies and just like any takeaways, anti-social or threatening behaviour.
Already gaining popularity in Europe, one way of both warning away thieves and reducing the risk of disruption is DNA spray. Effectively ‘tagging’
offenders with a spray which has a unique DNA code and can be detected and directly linked to a crime scene gives Police solid evidence for a conviction.
The spray typically contains two key elements. A coloured dye which remains on the skin and clothing for several days and an invisible UV dye which
can only be seen under UV light. It is this UV element which contains an encrypted DNA tag. When purchasing the spray the DNA tag is registered to
your business and location and is completely unique, therefore only traceable to you. It can also be supplied without dye.
Traces of a DNA spray can be taken from the skin, hair and clothing of offenders and although completely harmless, will stay in place for weeks - clinging
to fibres and sitting in creases of the skin. Police are increasingly using UV scanning technology during questioning and investigation and this technology
used in a DNA spray is seen as a new area of crime prevention with huge potential.
The spray can be administered in a variety of ways suitable to your business, either in a canister kept under the counter, or dispensed from a unit attached
to a wall. A unit can be fitted discreetly above an entrance, by a till or safe and can be linked to a panic button or existing security system.
A great way of providing reassurance to members of staff, stickers or signs can be placed in shops and leave any potential offenders in no doubt that
their actions are traceable.
www.protectorsecurity.co.uk
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