This time of year – never mind Covid-19 – is busy for campuses including security staff as universities begin ‘an academic year like no other’, and freshers start courses.
As featured in the July print edition of Professional Security magazine, security patrollers during lockdown were among the few people to remain on campuses, to protect property and the few essential lab researchers that had to work on campus. Estates managers including security have also put much work into arranging for a ‘covid-secure campus’, such as ‘keep left’ signage and working out how many people can be allowed in buildings and rooms, such as libraries (typically requiring bookings) and lecture halls (where students are asked to arrive in good time). For an example of campus preparations see the joint statement by Lancaster University, and the University of Cumbria.
Besides the now normal cleaning of surfaces, and hand sanitiser on offer in public spaces, typically students will be required or strongly encouraged to wear face coverings inside buildings; and have to provide a risk assessment form before being let on campus. Such ‘duty of care’ work is not new to campus security departments, as Security has taken on more of a student welfare role, beyond the traditional locking and unlocking of doors, in recent years.
Examples
In Leicestershire, Charnwood Borough Council environmental health officers have been visiting Loughborough (pictured) pubs and bars to advise pub landlords and managers, ahead of student arrival.
The UK Government’s new guidance on September 14 which means people can only visit places such as pubs, cafes and restaurants in groups of six at most. Larger groups will need to sit at different tables and must not mingle with other tables or groups. Under the guidance, households or support bubbles larger than six can sit together – if the business has a Covid Risk Assessment and Covid Secure controls. Charnwood is advising pubs, cafes and restaurants to stick to the rule of six if they can.
Charnwood councillor Jenny Bokor said: “The night-time economy is still getting to grips with the new way of operating and while the return of many students is welcome for many reasons, landlords need to ensure they are complying with all the latest guidance about the safe management and operation of bars and pubs. Just this week new guidance has been issued and it is important we work with local businesses to ensure they understand what is required of them.
“We want everyone to enjoy Loughborough’s night life in a safe and enjoyable way. We all have a role to play in reducing the transmission of this virus and the rules are there for a reason – to protect everyone. All of us, including students, need to be responsible for not passing this virus on which can be done without showing any symptoms. Please respect social distancing, wash your hands frequently and wear a mask if you can.”
As an indication of the sheer numbers, Canterbury – whose tourist centre has been busy since lockdown – will see around 30,000 students arrive, from two universities: Kent, and Canterbury Christ Church. Kent Police and Canterbury City Council will be carrying out patrols aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and seeing rules on social distancing are respected.
Insp Guy Thompson, of Canterbury Community Safety Unit, said: “I would like to welcome new students to Canterbury and I am sure they will enjoy their time being part of the city community. We are working closely with both universities based in Canterbury to ensure students have a successful and safe university experience.”
Some campuses are recruiting volunteers to help with enforcing of covid rules. The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston for example has ‘Campus Safety Champions‘, ‘who will be politely reminding students and staff’. UCLan are among unis that offer the downloadable SafeZone app from software firm CriticalArc that allows users to report incidents and receive safety alerts.
Differing states of lockdown can make life more complicated for multi-campus institutions. At UCLan, for example, Westlakes and Burnley campuses are not under local lockdown but must adhere to the national ‘rule of six’, while the main Preston campus has additional restrictions.
A new year means housekeeping. Over the next new weeks, University College London (UCL) security officers will start to remove bikes and locks that have been left on UCL cycle racks for more than two weeks.
