Back to Basics: door security

Of the million people employed in the hospitality sector, more than 100,000 are employed as door supervisors. It is a job in which abuse and assaults can occur anywhere and anytime, making it a high risk occupation requiring specialist skills, supervision and management.

The dangers were highlighted in a recent two-year academic study by the London School of Economics, which found that door supervisors were becoming the main law enforcers in inner city areas with police too stretched to cope with drunken louts.

It discovered that 30,000 people were being policed by more than 100 doorstaff while the dozen or so police officers on duty are finding their role to maintain law and order overwhelming.

The consequences can be dramatic and unwelcome.To take one example of what can go wrong, in January 2006 Marcus Marriott, a door supervisor at Stringfellows, was jailed for manslaughter. He used disproportionate force and demonstrated a serious loss of control when inflicting a fatal punch on a Mr Macdonald, a marketing director. Civil proceedings are currently being pursued by his widow.

So how should pubs approach this issue?

One major dilemma is whether they should employ their own door supervisors or contract the job out to a service provider. Here Noel Walsh of national law firm Weightmans, a legal specialist on security and violence at work, answers some of the key questions around the issue of how to make the relationship with your door supervisors to work properly.

If I contract out my requirement for door supervisors can I leave the security of my venue totally up to them?​

As licensee you have a responsibility under the Licensing Act 2003 to promote the prevention of crime and disorder and public nuisance and to promote public safety. These are in addition to any specific requirements of your premises licence. Selecting competent staff or service providers will go a long way to meeting these requirements but will not relieve you of overall responsibility.

If I choose to contract out my door supervisor requirements can I still retain control over who they admit or expel from my pub?​

The answer is technically yes. However, consider the following points:

• If you choose wisely, you should be employing professionals who are far more competent at managing and attempting to prevent escalation of violence and protecting you and your staff than you are
• By all means agree broad policies and such issues as behaviour, dress code and capacity. However, if and when an incident occurs let them apply their training
• If you direct a supervisor to act in a certain way, perhaps ignoring a risk of escalating violence and endangering both the public and your staff, you could risk prosecution
• If you have control over outside contract staff and you supervise and provide them instructions on what they should and should not do, then, under the law, you could be regarded as a 'temporary employer' even if you do not directly pay their wages. This could have both legal and insurance implications for you.

If I contract out door supervision do I require an SIA licence?​

No, it is the company which employs the door supervisors and pays their wages that requires a non-frontline licence for supervision. Conversely, if you wish to employ door supervisors yourself, you will need to obtain a non-frontline licence.

If I contract out is it necessary to enter into an agreement?​

Technically, the answer is no, but it is certainly good practice to do so and can avoid problems later. Apart from the usual stuff about length of contract, rates of payment, etc, the agreement should also deal with issues such as insurance, supervision, control, and undertakings on behalf of the providers as to the quality and training of their staff (it goes without saying they should hold valid SIA licences).

I have insurance of my own, should I ensure that my contracted door supervisors have insurance?​

Yes. It is important to include the insurance arrangements between parties in the agreement.

It is common for the service provider to offer an indemnity to the client (licensee) for any acts or admissions on the part of their staff which may expose you to a civil claim for damages. An example could be if a door supervisor uses excessive force and injures a member of the public. However, you should check:

• The wording of their policy. Sometimes door supervisor policies will exclude deliberate and malicious acts. If it does, their insurers may simply avoid the policy
• That the limit of cover is sufficient. There have been cases where the use of excessive force has left members of the public with severe spinal injuries. These claims are hugely expensive and could leave the insurer paying out well in excess of £1m.

Unfortunately insurance policies can be lengthy and difficult to read. As a helpful tip, why not ask your service provider to let you have a simple letter from their brokers confirming the extent of policy cover and identifying any exclusions you should know about.

I have a good reputation as a licensee and my venue has a great reputation with the public. How can I protect these?​

If you are looking to contract out your door supervision requirements then choose carefully. Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. The role of doorstaff is more than just security. They meet and greet customers and they are the initial face of your establishment. Their skills and professionalism will impact on turnover. So don't cut corners but ensure that security providers adopt the highest standards for their staff. Ask the following questions:

• What are your recruitment and induction procedures?
• What are your staff turnover figures for the last year?
• Are you working towards the implementation of good practice in accordance with the physical intervention (reducing risks) guidance published by BIIAB and Skills for Security in February 2007?
• What records do you keep in terms of recording and reporting incidents and monitoring violence and potential violence? Can I review these periodically?
• What feedback will you give me on your statistics and any specific incidents of violence so that I can help address any internal environmental issues?
• What is your company's relationship with local police and pubwatch group?

How can an external door supervision company help me promote safety and hopefully increase my turnover?​

Listen to them. A good security provider will take the time to understand your needs, your clientele, the local area and assess the venue. They should work with you in producing a site specific risk assessment to include comment on any environmental or policy issues which could trigger confrontation as well as identify when, where and how many door supervisors you require.

If you need more information about your door supervisor arrangements you can contact Noel Walsh at noel.walsh@weightmans.com​