Engineering Security Register Launched by Security Chief

The Director General of the Security Service, Jonathan Evans, formally launched the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists on 20th January in London.

Speaking before an audience of over 100 guests, Mr. Evans said that protection of the UK?s critical national infrastructure was crucial in the face of continuing threats to national security.

?The establishment of a Register of Security Engineers and Specialists has a unique and innovative contribution to make. By providing a technical competence standard of security engineering the Register will enable best use of engineering capability in mitigating attacks against the nation?s key infrastructure?, he said.

The Register is expected to deliver a practical and visible change in the way our infrastructure is designed and protected, enabling efficient targeting of resources and encouraging training and education in areas such as countering explosives and sabotage attacks.

The Register is sponsored by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure and administered by the ICE. Further information and application details can be found on the ICE and CPNI websites.

John Moore, director of MFD, which is a firm of security engineers established since 1975, is listed on the Register and is a member of the Register?s Steering Committee, explains that there are two categories of registration, namely:
? General Security Advisor
? Specialist Security Advisor

With the latter category further divided into the following specialist subjects:
? Weapons Effects
? Blast Effects
? Electronic Surveillance
? CBRN
? Vehicle Barriers
? Pedestrian Barriers
? Explosive Detection (to follow)

Moore states that, ?The Register will provide construction professionals and clients alike with a long-awaited source of appropriately qualified security specialists. The ICE will ensure that the list is maintained and governed appropriately, and the selection procedures will allow only suitably experienced and qualified individuals to enter the register. What is important, now that the Register is up and running, is to spread the word!?

Moore believes that once the Register is established in the construction market,
?It will inevitably improve the standard of security engineering practice in the UK. It will also provide overseas organisations with a source of specialists that, in the past, has proved difficult to find.?

www.ice.org.uk