Following the informal consultation on whether a single generic SIA licence should be introduced, the SIA will not be developing a non sector-specific licence.

Overall, feedback from the industry showed that while there was some interest in a more integrated approach, the option for a single generic licence card did not receive widespread support.

At present, SIA licence cards are specific to each sector.  Operatives working in more than one sector may need to be issued with multiple licences.

The two options set out in the consultation were:

• to introduce a single generic licence card covering all of the licensable activities that the holder is qualified to undertake; or
• to continue to issue sector-specific and multiple licences.

SIA Director of Strategy and Corporate Services, Hazel Russell said:

“I would like to thank respondents for their contributions to this informal consultation. The responses did not provide clear support for the development of a non-sector specific licence, so at present we will not be making changes to the licences that we issue.

However, we will now reconsider how we have defined the ‘manned guarding’ sectors and we will take account of the consultation responses in identifying opportunities for limiting the requirement for multiple licences and for reducing administrative burdens.  This, combined with our ongoing customer service improvements will help to ensure that any future changes will continue to be stakeholder-led.”

Suzi says: I assume that redefining manned guarding will introduce new sectors within guarding such as “retail” security and “construction site” security, etc.  Will that mean yet another day’s training I ask myself.  We shall see.  But, rest assured, we will let you know if and when it happens.

Simon de Bruxelles of the Times Online asks: When is a drunk not a drunk?  Police have been accused of entrapment after sending amateur actors into pubs to order drinks while swaying and announcing to bar staff in a slurred voice “I’m hammered”.

Two actors visited ten pubs in Bexley, southeast London, and managed to get served in every one of them despite reeking of alcohol, slurring their words, fumbling their change and shoving other customers on their way to the bar.

They later repeated the performance at a conference for local publicans and bar managers who insisted, unanimously, that they would be refused service and asked to leave. They were stunned when a senior police officer revealed: “You’ve already served them.”

Under current legislation, bar staff caught serving alcohol to intoxicated drinkers are liable for an £80 fixed penalty notice or a fine of up to £1,000.

Although the bar staff served the hired actors they can not be prosecuted because they were not actually drunk.

John Madden, chairman of the licensed trade body Guild of Master Victuallers, condemned the exercise as a waste of police time.

He said: ”It is a terrible idea and I am surprised the police think it is worth doing. They cannot prosecute anyone for serving an actor who is pretending to be drunk.

”I’m really not happy with this. At the end of the day it’s entrapment, but it’s entrapment where the staff haven’t done anything wrong because the actor isn’t even drunk.”

The fake drunks were hired from a local amateur dramatic group by Bexley Borough Council and Bexley Police, part of the Metropolitan Police, ahead of a seminar with 100 landlords, club managers and restaurant owners, on drink-related crime.

Chief Inspector Stephen Murrant, who organised the initiative, said: “I am disappointed that despite our efforts to educate and support licensees that staff saw fit to serve two outrageously behaved drunken actors.

“This has come as no surprise. In a recent survey of bar staff carried out in the borough, 98 per cent said they saw drunk customers on some or most of their shifts.

“We routinely monitor what goes on in all our licensed premises and we will be robust in our actions if we find licensees or their staff fuelling alcohol related disorder by serving customers who are drunk.”

Clive Cain, head of public protection at Bexley Council, said: ”Whilst it is illegal to serve a drunk, the law does not define when someone is drunk. This pioneering initiative has demonstrated the ease with which drunks can be served. It has highlighted the urgent need for improvements in training, advice and managerial support for bar staff.”

Section 141 of the Licensing Act 2003 bans the sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. Bexley Police say the force rarely prosecutes landlords but reports findings to the council, which takes such instances into consideration when considering renewing licences to serve alcohol.

Scott Mackenzie, manager of the Blue Anchor in Bexley, claims it is getting more difficult for landlords because an increasing number of customers are drinking heavily before going to the pub. He claims cheap alcohol sold by supermarkets is the real problem.

He said: ”In my car park, every day we have to clear up bottles of this and that, which people drank before they came to the pub.”

Bexley Police are planning to step up their undercover initiative for the World Cup.

Suzi says:  This does highlight a problem with a lack of awareness and training within licensed premises.  It is ultimately the responsibility of the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) to ensure that staff are aware of the law and the consequences of “ignoring” the law.  With the grandfather rights that were handed out when the Licensing Act 2003 was introduced, many DPS, managers and other Personal Licence Holders are actually totally unaware of what the law says.  There are several courses which are ideal for bar staff and other employees of licensed premises that cover the Act and would also cover a premises with their “due diligence”.  beSmart Training offer courses for Personal Licence Holders as well as the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retail (ideal for staff who don’t require a personal licence), and the BIIAB Level 2 National Certificate for Designate Premises Supervisors.

Prior to the launch of the new door supervisor course on June 1st 2010, beSmart Training are running a one-day physical intervention course for Door Supervisors and Security Guards who already hold an SIA licence or the relevant qualification for one of those licences.

It has not yet been decided if physical intervention will be compulsory refresher training for licensed door supervisors, but following the consultation earlier this year, there is an announcement expected in the next few months.

Why not enrol now and be ahead of the game.  Also become trained to the same level as door supervisors WILL be trained to from June 2010 onwards.

beSmart’s physical intervention course is accepted as accredited prior learning for the new door supervisor qualification and only costs £100.00 plus VAT for the one-day course, including all handbooks and certification.

If you’re interested, please call Sue on 020 7237 6007, or book online at www.besmart-training.co.uk/physical-intervention-training/.

A shop assistant saved the life of a pensioner who had a heart attack while shopping in Cribbs Causeway.

Val Laing was working a normal shift in Marks & Spencer’s when a 75-year-old man collapsed in the food hall.

But when the 47-year-old, from Thornbury, rushed to help, she realised his heart had stopped. Val, who had volunteered to be a trained first aider at the store, immediately began chest compressions and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until he gasped for breath about five minutes later.

She kept him calm with the help of another nurse who was passing by until paramedics arrived on the scene. He was taken to British Royal Infirmary by ambulance where he had an emergency operation and he is now reported to be on the mend.

Val, a former army nurse, said: “It was about 4pm and I was in the food hall. There is a few of us first aiders in the store. We carry mobiles around with us just in case. It is usually just a minor injury – like a cut finger.

“I got a call on my mobile saying someone had collapsed, so I picked up my first aid bag and went over to where he had fallen.

“There were a few people crowded round him. He was slumped down and totally purple. Another first aider was with me and I told her to dial 999 because he wasn’t breathing.

“When she got through, I had already started CPR and was giving him mouth-to-mouth and 30 chest compressions.”

Mrs Laing said she just focused on reviving the pensioner who had gone into cardiac arrest.

“I just knew I had to do something before it was too late,” she explained. “I was on my second round of CPR when he gasped for breath. A trained nurse was there and she helped me keep him calm because he started fighting back. She monitored his pulse while we waited for oxygen. After the ambulance arrived, I carried on working. Staff were coming up to me afterwards saying ‘I don’t know how you did it!’”

Store manager Simon Lucas said: “It’s important to Marks and Spencer that we have first aiders in the store. “We were pleased to be able to help and wish our customer a full and speedy recovery.”

Cribbs Causeway spokesman Sarah King added: “We have 28 trained first aiders in The Mall but stores like M&S have their own staff.

Read the rest of the article here.

Source: This is Bristol

A licensee and her chef have been hailed as heroes by the ambulance service after helping save an 81-year-old woman from choking to death.

Marie Vaillant and chef Patrick Beck, of the Griffin Hotel, Toddington, Bedfordshire worked together to remove a piece a gammon which had become lodged in the woman’s throat.

Patrick performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on the customer 10 times, until eventually Marie lifted out the two centimetre piece of meat.

Marie, a tenant at the Greene King pub, said: “It was really lucky that Patrick was here. He just jumped in and used his first aid skills to save the woman.
“She was quite frail, and had turned blue from lack of oxygen, so we had to be careful not to bruise her.”

Marie, who is also trained in first aid, added: “The ambulance service came within five minutes, I was really impressed. But luckily the woman did not even have to go to hospital. She was quite embarrassed though.”
Just two days after the incident Marie and Patrick both received commendations from the ambulance service for their actions.

Gary Sanderson, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said: “The quick thinking and rapid interventions by Marie and Patrick has no doubt saved this woman’s life. They must be very proud of themselves – well done.”

Source: The Publican

Suzi Says…

There is no doubt about it, First Aiders save lives. As this story prooves, it’s not just Fonr-of-House staff that it is important to train. Any employees can be called upon to help a customer with any number of problems.

Ensure that your staff are ready, trained and confident in what to do. Call us for First Aid training 020 7237 6007.