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BROUGHTON HIGH SECURITY LAUNCHES
SECURITY RATED TURNSTILE
Broughton Control’s rapidly expanding High Security Division has launched a new high security turnstile, the Defender 970, aimed at customers requiring unsupervised control of pedestrian access within a site perimeter.
The Defender 970 High Security Turnstile is the latest addition to a range of products from Broughton High Security aimed at front line security locations including ports, airports, prisons, police stations and government buildings as well as high risk commercial and industrial facilities such as banks and oil refineries.
Crowd control - Getting it right first time
Article written for Building for Leisure magazine August 2001.
The tragedy that occurred on a spring afternoon in 1989 at Hillsborough will have a lasting effect on many people, but what lessons have stadium designers learnt from that disaster? Laurence Goode, managing director of Broughton Controls suggests that teamwork is the answer to creating successful crowd control systems.
The only effective way in which to make entrance control equipment choices is to start with a fundamental understanding of what is required. This means covering all the issues of traffic flow, rates of flow, safety, control systems, supervision, even the skill levels required for the operation and supervision of the equipment. It is also important to consider how critical the system is to the particular site with a view to failure procedures, maintenance and emergency repair support.
So who has the knowledge for this process and who is responsible for each function? Simple questions I know, but this is the area in which the whole process can start to fall apart. An architect may be concerned with balancing the aesthetics of design with the technicalities of building regulations, a construction company with building to plans and budgets whilst the crowd safety and control equipment manufacturers may be supplying off the shelf components to the relevant specification. Each element in isolation may be perfect but the combined result could be dangerously or expensively flawed just because the various suppliers have not had the chance to consult as a team on the job in question. Only after contracts have been awarded does the whole team assemble and this is often when the problems are discovered, leading to the inevitable specification amendments and ultimately a budget overrun.
Over the last two years Broughton Controls has been involved in crowd control projects at a number of major UK stadia and through this work we have learned a number of vital lessons. Possibly the most important of these lessons has been that of early involvement in all projects.
By bringing your potential provider into the project at an early stage it is far easier to achieve a cost effective operational design as you will be able to examine specifications carefully against the site requirements. A well-designed barrier or turnstile may operate flawlessly, even in a high frequency site, with minimum maintenance requirements. If the site is subject to regular vandalism however, an ultra heavy-duty industrial product may prove to be a better investment. Possibly two or three times more expensive as an initial installation, but more than paying back that investment over time in reduced operational costs and savings on maintenance and repair budgets.
ur own company has seen the benefits of early involvement with a current project for the Commonwealth Games arena in Manchester . It has taken many months of consultation involving the project architects, contractors, the stadium owners and our design team to put together the final specification for the 86 entrance turnstiles. The end result, which balances the aesthetic, technical, safety, construction, operational and budgetary requirements may be a custom built product but the most important aspect is that all concerned know in advance that the system is ideally suited to its intended environment and application.
On projects of this size early consultation is essential. Crowd control and safety systems must work first time, every time. In our industry we don't have the luxury of testing all possible scenarios at full scale so it becomes even more important to use the experience and expertise of all those involved to obtain the best possible end result.
Employing suppliers who fully understand the whole process from design to operation and maintenance and putting them together at an early stage may involve a little additional effort for all concerned but it will reap great benefits in the long term. If your supplier is able to design or re-design products to suit your specific application, understands any problems that may be encountered on site during installation and appreciates the wear and tear that the installed system will have to endure, then they will be able to provide the correct equipment in the first place. Admittedly, this approach may not produce the cheapest quote that lands on your desk. It is, however, far more likely to reduce overall costs by ensuring that you do not keep paying for mistakes at a later date for an ill conceived system that may require constant maintenance, cost a great deal in delays and inconvenience or possibly even fail completely.
There are many ways in which an entrance control product or system can fail to perform, the most obvious failure being a mechanical breakdown. This risk can be minimised by buying a quality system from a supplier offering full maintenance and repair facilities, but other failures are just as important and even easier to avoid, yet are all too often never considered.
I am talking here of basic system flaws, where insufficient thought has gone into a project and an ineffective solution has been installed. Delays entering and leaving a stadium are annoying at the very least but they can also be potentially dangerous. With a large venue such as a sports stadium, ease of exit and emergency evacuation is obviously essential but equally important is a smooth, controlled entry. Preventing unnecessary queues of restless spectators from causing traffic chaos and potential public disorder in the surrounding streets is an expensive policing and stewarding exercise that can be easily avoided.
Control is only one half of the equation however and we must also consider the safety of the crowds we are trying to keep in order, not forgetting the stewards and police personnel that may be marshalling such a crowd. A smooth flow of traffic will always help to keep stress levels under control for both the crowd and marshals. To this end equipment must function reliably and should be designed to comfortably handle the highest possible volume of traffic in any direction. Stadium capacity is the figure to work to, not the average attendance figure!
There are many areas of concern that often fall through the net of responsibility when a stadium is being planned, unless all concerned have the chance to contribute. Considerations such as how to control and eject individuals causing trouble, from either inside the ground or from the queue to enter a ground, without causing distress or danger to customers and stewards, are often forgotten. Indeed the steward's own role is now seeing change as automated ticketing comes to the fore, bringing with it new challenges as sports and concert going fans struggle with unfamiliar technology and procedures. Ultimately, the stadia themselves are evolving. For a long time bastions of individual sports they must now adapt to become multi-use venues. What was once designed as a football pitch for twenty-two players may now find itself playing host to 22,000 rock fans. Different crowds with different attitudes but the control and safety systems and installations must be equally effective.
Even the surroundings of a stadium will need to be taken into consideration when specifying crowd control measures. The speed with which people can disperse once outside the ground and available areas for queuing prior to entry will have a massive impact on the traffic handling capability required of the entrance control equipment. This brings highways, local authorities and the police to the early stages of project consultation to help ensure that in solving one crowd control problem we are not creating another elsewhere.
A few extra hours of consultation or pounds spent in preparation is of little significance if it means the job is right first time. That little extra spent in preparation and ensuring correct project specification will be rewarded many times over. Not just in financial terms but in spectator comfort and goodwill. After all, without the crowds we wouldn't be in business and our businesses must avoid at all costs any repetition of tragic incidents such as Hillsborough.
Laurence Goode is managing director of Broughton Controls Ltd of Oldham . Built up over the last twenty-five years into one of the UK 's foremost entrance control specialists;. With a full ISO 9001 2000 accredited design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance capability Broughton regularly works alongside major architects, specifiers and contractors and have been involved in numerous notable projects including Manchester United, Sunderland and Southampton football stadia plus the new Commonwealth Games arena.