New awareness training under the SCaN banner – See, Check and Notify (SCaN) for All Staff was formally launched at the Home Office’s Security and Policing 2022 event, in Farnborough.
The free package uses video content to provide any staff with an awareness of how to recognise suspicious activity (see, check) and know what to do when they encounter it (notify).
SCaN for All Staff as developed by the UK official Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) is part of a wider SCaN training programme, which aims to support organisations, venues and events to train staff to help disrupt hostile reconnaissance – that is, the information-gathering that terrorists and other criminals need to do, and usually do do, to plan.
SCaN for All Staff was promoted for the first time at an in-person event by Sgt Pete Lucas, from the National Project Servator Team, based at City of London Police, which is responsible for developing and overseeing the SCaN training.
He said: “We believe SCaN is the future of security awareness. It can be the difference between an organisation being considered a target for hostile activity, or it being perceived as too difficult. SCaN for All Staff gives organisations the opportunity to mobilise their workforces to help keep us all safe. We believe it will help empower staff to know what to do if they encounter suspicious activity.
“If used up and down the country, this could be a huge force multiplier, which is why we are making this accessible to everyone for free. We are asking security industry colleagues and other professionals, such as learning and development leads, to champion this training in their own organisations. Your people are your biggest advantage in preventing and tackling hostile acts, such as terrorism or an insider threat.
“SCaN for All Staff, including a video, facilitators notes and knowledge check, can be accessed online and delivered in-house, without having to rely on specialist trainers.”
Figen Murray, OBE, whose son Martyn Hett was one of 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena suicide terror attack of May 2017, said: “SCaN training is so important for every single person in a company or organisation, irrespective of the role they play, because it is important to train ourselves to be aware of suspicious behaviour, suspicious individuals, and suspicious packages we may see in the course of our everyday lives.
“It may just be you who spots that one person who can be a danger to all of us. It only takes one person to devastate people’s lives. Our lives were devastated through one person’s actions.”
And at the Home Office, Security Minister Damian Hinds said: “I welcome the new SCaN training launched today and would encourage any business, large or small, to take a look and see how their teams can help play a role in keeping the public safe. The training is free and simple, and clearly sets out how managers and their staff can recognise suspicious behaviour and know what to do in response: a vital defence in disrupting terrorist and other criminal activity.”
Visit https://www.cpni.gov.uk/scan-all-staff to find out more about how you can use the SCaN for All Staff awareness package in your organisation.
To access the free, government-backed awareness package directly, visit the website of the training accreditation body Highfield, https://scan.highfieldelearning.com.
