The word’s ‘Martyn’s Law’ or ‘Protect Duty’ are getting banded about the event industry with increasing furore, the point highlighted and the fires very much stoked when it was mentioned in the king’s speech at the end of 2023.
However, with this increased exposure of the intended legislation and the assurance that it will have a marked and momentous impact on the event and venue industry, we are beginning to see an increase in what is effectively a business scam. With lots of ‘consultants’ of various ilks approaching establishments to offer ‘protect duty assessments’ or making assurances that their product or service will comply with the upcoming protect duty or Martyn’s Law regulations. The fact of the matter is that while we have had assurances that the legislation will be coming, we still do not have any confirmed timeframes or really any clear idea what the true implications it will have on events and businesses alike.
In fact, the information on the ProtectUK website has actually been drawn back for the proposed ‘standard tier’ citing that they will engage in a further period of consultation for that tier following a number of raised concerns with how the bill will translate into the operation of the standard tier venues. This is likely a wise move from the legislators as the standard tier regulations are going to affect the broadest range of venue operators as it looks like any venue (or indeed event) with a capacity of 100-799 people belonging to this tier and being subject to implementing the measures that the regulator will set. As you can imagine, this tier will include operators from bar and restaurant chains who potentially have substantial capital to implement measures, but are also going to implicate a number of much smaller operations such as the traditional husband and wife publicans, student bars, social clubs and independent, community events such as fetes and carnivals who are probably right to be somewhat concerned about how this legislation will impact their operations, but also their finances and how they will become compliant and avoid the suggested hefty fines when every penny counts.
It’s probably for this reason that these unscrupulous operators that offer Martyn’s Law or protect duty consultations and the like incense us so much, and why I keep harping on about this point. Unfortunately, while these consultations and services may be offered in good faith, the current state of the bill and how this will then transform by the time it is published is so blurry and unknown that it is literally impossible for anyone to give you a true assessment of your compliance with the legislation, and they’ll have no more access to the rules and regulations than you get via the ProtectUK website, which you can simply keep on top of yourself anyway.
So let us end with a final reminder; save your money and consider your compliance with other regulations such as how you ensure that security personnel are properly inducted and briefed for your venue/event or your health and safety requirements. It’s still most likely you’ll suffer an incident within your venue or workplace due to a slip, trip and fall and so it’d be smart to dig out those risk assessments and policies and consider engaging a health and safety consultant to review their effectiveness and improve your practices in this regard. Especially if you consider that it certainly appears that any sort of compliance activity that comes out of Martyn’s Law is likely to be a strange meld of health and safety and security practices. Indeed, some of the language we have seen used in the information published so far regarding proposed regulations and ‘tests’ used to ensure compliance have very strong parallels to already established health and safety practices. Furthermore, the ProtectUK website has some great information on how to achieve a high level of security at your event or venue, as well as training for your staff to ensure vigilance against attacks and ‘hostile reconnaissance’. Why not use your time and money wisely and make use of these resources as they’ll likely catapult in the direction of compliance with Martyn’s Law when it does come into force.
Medirek are a safety and medical provider who can assist your venue or event with a range of safety auditing and planning services, as well as being able to recommend and provide medical staff to your event or venue in order to help you deliver safe and efficient events.
