How safe are you keeping your public/visitors?

The Safe and Secure Facilities and Public Spaces conference provides a first-of-its-kind forum for exploring the security of public facilities in New Zealand from a range of traditional and emerging threats.

New Zealand-based organisations and facilities now have even greater reason to sharpen their focus on a wider range of dangerous and significant threats.

After the horrors visited upon Christchurch, thinking must shift to encompass all possible incidents and scenarios, including terrorism. Whilst owners and operators of public facilities, tourism, educational and transport operations previously focused considerable attention on response to natural disaster, now they must factor in significant human-derived threats.

Around the world, ‘soft targets’ and crowded public spaces such as stadia, shopping precincts and major events have been targeted with increased frequency. Public safety has been breached by random attacks. Whilst law enforcement and security services are responsible for wider threat surveillance, it is the owners and operators of facilities who must play their part to keep people safe.

Many organisations are now reviewing their site, visitor and operational security and safety – or considering doing so – in light of the changed security context.

Hosted at Wellington’s Te Papa on 12 and 13 August, the new Safe and Secure Facilities and Public Spaces conference promises valuable insight into what’s required to properly be prepared.

This conference will examine how operators and owners, along with other stakeholders, can effectively mitigate the risks and decrease the security vulnerabilities whilst maintaining the necessary public and/or visitor access and experience.

The conference will draw together people concerned with safety and security at:

• Local government facilities, council offices, stadiums, pools, parks, beaches, museums and shopping precincts

• Hospitals and health facilities

• Schools, universities and education facilities

• Transport facilities, hubs and vehicles

• Tourism and travel operators

• Government facilities

• Private facilities open to the public: pools, gyms, shopping malls and commercial buildings

• Critical lifelines and infrastructure: refineries, tank farms, ports, oil companies, water and gas

• Private facilities profiled as higher targets: churches, mosques, temples, religious organisations

• Stadium and large sporting, concert and park event operations

Key topics covered include:

• International best practice security risk management

• Predicting and responding to physical threats, including new hostile vehicle mitigation solutions

• Cyber threats and their potential impact on your operations

• Crowded places and target profiles

• What makes your facility a target?

• How to protect crowded places from terrorism or other threats

• Vulnerability assessments and applying lessons learned

• Effective collaboration with facilities and emergency services

• Managing security and incidents in the new era of social media

• Effective counter-measures solutions

• Keeping people safe at major events

• Harnessing interagency cooperation at mass events

Conference speakers include Sydney Opera House’s Dave Crossley, Melbourne Cricket Ground’s Mark Oxnam, Air New Zealand’s Ellen King, Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Sir Kenneth McKenzie, Auckland Live’s Dean Kidd, Regional Facilities Auckland’s Glenn Simpson, Counties Manukau DHB Anton Venter, and AUT’s Willy Taylor, among others.

Among the 24 speaker presentations will be a panel discussion featuring Dave Crossley, Dr John Battersby of Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies, and Chris Kumeroa of Global Risk Consulting, on the importance of the private security sector working in collaboration with government within the context of national security.

This is a first-of-its-kind conference in New Zealand featuring a who’s who of local physical security and emergency management specialists. To view the details, including the full speaker line-up, visit conferenz.co.nz/safe.