A temporary fencing solution that could save up to 90% of police time has won the prestigious Security Innovation Awards 2013 for Zaun, the Wolverhampton headquartered manufacturer of perimeter protection systems.
Zaun’s Rapid Deployable System (RDS) fence has been widely praised for offering a fast, effective and adaptable solution for areas which need temporary high security fencing.
The product’s success was experienced first at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe meeting in Brighton last April then cemented during a whistle-stop tour from Brighton to Birmingham via Manchester for the three main political parties’ autumn conferences.
The UK security industry is a world leader in the innovation of Advanced Engineering, Manufacturing and Services and the award, now in its 10th year, looks to recognise continued investment and innovation in countering security threats.
Paul Painter, director of finance and sales at Zaun, said: “This award will mean a tremendous amount to every member of our team and our partner Highway Care who have worked tirelessly to develop, trial and manufacture this solution for the protection and security of the public.
“While the product has received positive feedback from the police, it is hugely exciting to win this award, confirming the importance of RDS in the wider security industry.”
RDS can be supplied with a PAS68 hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) enhancement which protects against 2.5 and 7.5 tonne vehicles to the following standards: PAS68:2010 V2500 (N1G)/48/90:4.7/0.0 and PAS68:2010 V7500 (N2)/48/90:6.0/0.0
RDS uniquely provides HVM up to 30mph (48kph) in a rapidly-deployed temporary fencing solution with no below ground foundations – a solution generally offered only by permanent fixed installations.
Police forces estimate it will save them up to 90% (source: Sussex Police deployment at Liberal Democrat Party Annual Conference 2012) of the cost of police time when securing major events as well as reducing on-site disruption.
The system has also recently been tested against crowd/mob attack in what is seen to be the first such trials conducted. Due to the nature of the system, it performed extremely well and was able to withstand prolonged attacks conducted under realistic conditions using specialist method of entry experts. These trials will be used to enable the creation of crowd attack standards to be used to evaluate other systems in the future.
Paul Everitt, chief executive of aerospace, defence, space and security trade organisation said:
“The UK security industry is renowned for being one of the most technologically advanced world-wide.
“In an environment that is consistently changing, with terrorists and criminals increasingly sophisticated in their approach, continued innovation is vital both to the future of our industry. This year, once again, we have seen an incredibly high standard of entries to the Security Innovation Award and the selection process was incredibly tough.
“But Zaun’s RDS fencing stood out as a technology that not only offers a superior security product, but also as one which will save time, improve efficiency and allow security providers, including the police, to deploy resources in other areas that best serve the public.”
The Home Office has added 5.5km of RDS PAS68 fencing to the National Barrier Asset, including vehicular and pedestrian access portals, turnstiles and gates, initially for use at the 2012 autumn conference season for the main political parties in conjunction with the three constabularies of Sussex, Greater Manchester and West Midlands.
Inspector Steve Worth, Specialist Operations Branch, Conference Planning Unit, Greater Manchester Police, said: “The product has numerous advantages over other products deployed previously: its speed of deployment, flexibility of use in differing street scenes and terrains and the ability to fully integrate gates and turnstile options are worthy of note.
“Significantly though, the reduction in the numbers of guard force required and potential for enhancements using technical solutions make RDS an attractive proposition when delivering secure events to ever decreasing funding streams.
“The RDS is now firmly the preferred product in relation to the delivery of Security Operations for Party Political Party Conferences delivered by Greater Manchester Police, fully supported by The Home Office.”
RDS Fence goes to heights of up to 3m. The innovative configuration of blocks combined with a post arrangement allows installers to erect and remove the fence panels in a matter of minutes, as was proven perfectly during the party conferences, when the same system parts were deployed, dismantled, transported and reinstalled three times in less than three weeks. Flexible added features enable specifiers to incorporate CCTV, PIDS, vehicle gates and pedestrian portals. Even vehicle and pedestrian access points use innovative foundation blocks to negate the need for any below ground foundations. It suits sites with moderate undulations in ground levels and differing standards of ground standings.
RDS comes with a 12-year guarantee and carries the Secured by Design accreditation mark, along with being tested to leading industry and government standards. Following feedback from police and other users, the fencing has been designed to prevent protesters chaining themselves to the panels.
The Security Innovation Award ceremony was held at the Security and Policing Dinner 2013 on 12 March 2013. The dinner hosted more than 250 guests from industry and marked the start of this year’s Security and Policing Exhibition, which runs from 12-14 March 2013.
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