ARTICLES(Counter Terror Business Article)
Highest Security Perimeter Products – are they what they seem?
Laurence
Goode, Chairman of the newly formed Perimeter Security Suppliers
Association (PSSA) throws some light on, and raises some important
questions relating to the use of the highest security perimeter
products.
Where
security risks are the greatest, and hence the very highest security
rated perimeter products are required, you could be forgiven for
expecting that these not in-expensive products have been tested to, and
to meet the very highest specifications. You might expect this, but
also might be surprised to find that worldwide currently there is
simply no way to ensure that this is the case! However things are
changing.
Is a product tested to a specific standard?
Take the case of Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (H.V.M.) products. These
are designed to arrest the progress of a hostile vehicle e.g. terrorist
car bomb or truck, at the perimeter of a sensitive site so that the
damage it can cause is limited. There are some very good products
available, and many have been properly designed, and indeed tested to
recognised standards. These include high impact vehicle blockers, gates
and bollards, and also a number of both fixed and rapidly deployable
street furniture products. Among these are some very innovative
designs, and without doubt many of these are extremely effective and
have been proven to work exactly as designed.
However
for a number of complex reasons, identifying which products have
actually been properly tested can be extremely difficult, and of course
the difference between properly tested or not, could be the difference
between life and death!
There are recognised
standards for H.V.M. products (PAS 68 in the UK, and DOS SD-STD-02.01
in the USA for instance) and these specify precise test criteria such
as vehicle speeds and masses that must be resisted. Tests generally
take the form of specific vehicle types being ‘driven’ by a highly
calibrated mechanical system into the test product. This takes place
under very precisely controlled conditions. Very high resolution video
and data recordings allow detailed analysis so that just how well the
impact standards were met can be proven without doubt. This may sound
pretty cut and dried; however there are a number of issues which
complicate this.
Current Issues – user knowledge
The first is that even products properly tested to these standards do
not appear on any published, generally available list. Unless final
users have access to government (often classified) lists it can be
difficult for users and designers to verify a manufacturer’s claims.
This is a particular issue for manufacturers in this very specialist
field where export sales are necessary to provide the volumes to
justify the high costs of design and development.
Another
issue is that users may not be properly aware of the whole standards
and testing regime. The difference between claiming a product is
‘tested’, and ‘designed to meet’ a specific standard, can be blurred by
manufacturers intent on getting product specified or sold into a
project, and again, the problems are multiplied where manufacturers and
projects cross national boundaries.
These issues of
course combine and reinforce each other to leave the door open for
manufacturer’s claims that could be exaggerated or worse, completely
false. However even beyond this there are two other major issues that
buyers have to be aware of.
Further issues – how/what standards are used
The first of these is that while a lot of HVM product is indeed tested
to a specific impact standard, there are currently no standards
specifically for HVM product that covers things like reliability,
longevity, or serviceability. There are of course a multitude of
standards available that cover these areas, with some (HVM)
manufacturers even developing some of their own, but this at present
little conformity and this can lead to a wide range of quality of
product. Of course impact (i.e. security) rating means very little if
after a year a product has simply stopped working due to reliability
issues. And a much worse scenario is that the product still works but
due to poor corrosion resistance can no longer offer the original
impact rating. Many (but not all) Impact rated products of course are
installed largely below ground and in this case this particular problem
is exacerbated since corrosion is both much more likely, and worse, can
remain hidden and unknown for a long time.
A further issue relates to the range of sizes of product that can be
validated by a specific impact test. In order for a manufacturer to
offer a range of sizes of a particular product, for instance a vehicle
blocker in different widths or different heights, currently means a
separate test is needed for each size. This is expensive for
manufacturers (impact testing is not cheap!) and therefore product
becomes expensive for users. It is of course possible to design a
single test to cover a range of products sizes, however this needs an
agreed discipline to mathematically/statistically relate different size
products to one test, and of course an independent and widely
recognised body to verify the validity of this process. This body needs
both engineering skill and a strong history of experience in this
field. Of course you would struggle to achieve higher credibility than
by accreditation by a National Accreditation Service such as the UK’s
UKAS.
The need for Certification
Lastly,
and the issue that overshadows all the others, is that even if a
product has been through a genuine testing regime and passed, and even
assuming this is verifiable, there has until only just recently been no
way to guarantee that the product you buy today, is actually the same
as the product that was originally tested. To provide this guarantee
requires a certification scheme which starts by capturing all details
relating to a product’s design, construction, materials, installation,
and testing, and provides an auditable process which links a current
product back to all this detail.
This is necessary
since details can change, both consciously and unintentionally through
the life of a product. For instance good manufacturers constantly
engage in development programmes, and their component suppliers (or
even the component supplier’s material suppliers down the chain) could
make specification changes over time. Changes are also frequently made
on the basis of feedback from the installation process. Ideas for
improvement often only occur at the installation stage, instigated by
the need to take account of specific local site conditions. All these
changes may well have been made individually in the interests of
improvement, however without a proper certification scheme to capture
all changes and evaluate their effect, even fairly minor changes could
radically alter the product’s performance and invalidate any testing or
impact rating.
The solution
The
solution to all these issues is to have a widely accepted certification
scheme, both for products, and the companies that design, manufacture,
install and service them, run by an independent, credible,
certification organisation, and using a set of appropriate standards
that have been agreed across the whole industry. Until recently there
was no machinery to achieve this, and this became one of the
fundamental reasons for the formation of the Perimeter Security
Suppliers Association (PSSA).
The
PSSA was set up as a company limited by guarantee, funded and organised
by 13 founder members who brought in professional association
administration, and started the work to gain agreement on a
certification scheme and new standards. The PSSA have the backing of
government departments, test houses, manufacturers and installers, as
well as designers and architects already. New members are also now
adding real momentum.
A partnering arrangement with
LPCB (BRE), one of the leading independent UKAS accredited certifying
bodies, has already produced a draft certification scheme and in
conjunction with some of the industry’s leading advisors work has begun
on the applicable standards to be adopted. It has been agreed that
these will be incorporated into an LPCB ‘LPS’ (Loss Protection
Standard), with companies and products successfully certified against
this standard being listed by LPCB in their famous and widely accepted
‘Red Book’. The certification scheme will be open to all worldwide,
with PSSA membership aiming to drastically ease the process by
providing technical guidance, help with certification preparation, and
training; all focused keenly on member needs.
While the focus is currently on H.V.M. products and an appropriate
Certification Scheme, this will undoubtedly widen to cover all highest
security perimeter products. The area of high security fencing is
already being considered for inclusion into the same certification
process.
The consequences of poor standards are magnified in proportion to the
level of threat and the required security rating of product. The PSSA’s
strength is the ability to bring all industry players together, gain
consensus on direction with the widest agreement, and hence really
start to address these overall standards. The PSSA will also provide a
conduit into the standards development process, give a voice to the
industry, and be able to link the interests of all involved to the
benefit of the UK’s high security perimeter sector.
The
current issues outlined here, are not untypical for any developing
industry sector, and do not by any means mean that current high
security perimeter equipment is ineffective. However with the
encouragement and assistance so far added to the PSSA’s efforts from
all quarters, there is no reason all the issues should not be
surmounted before too long and we would urge support for these
endeavours.
In the meantime of course, with the
commitment PSSA membership has made to improving the whole industry
standards, if you have a requirement for the highest security perimeter
equipment and have any concerns about standards, you won’t do better
than to contact a PSSA member!
The PSSA may be contacted regarding any of these issues or involvement in the association as follows;
Address: PSSA, Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey CR0 0XZ,
Telephone: 0208 253 4509
email: admin@psssasecurity.org
website: www.pssasecurity.org
