Tue, Apr 19, 2011
EU-Funded BEMOSA Project Study Suggests A Need To Improve
Security Decision-Making Processes
The first in-depth study of European airports, conducted by
the EU-funded BEMOSA Consortium, indicates that airport personnel
do not rely primarily on procedures or rules in emergency
cases. The report contains the first results of an extensive
study aimed at obtaining data on how emergencies and security
threats are actually handled in airports. The results will be
presented on a special workshop on applying human factors to
airport security that will be hosted by BEMOSA in Belgium on May
25, 2011.
BEMOSA's experts concluded that there appeared to be a definite
need to improve security decision-making procedures. This was
reflected in the clearly observed problems of recognizing a threat
and acting upon it. The report indicates that there appears to be a
gap between procedures and actual behaviour when a threat is
recognized and especially when it is acted upon.
The study found that:
- Only 53.1 percent of airport employees and 63% of security
workers said they put complete trust in security technologies.
- Only 23.6% of airport employees and 58% of security workers
said that when they saw something suspicious they alerted
others.
- 54.3% of the workers and 40% of security personal never raised
the alarm or called a security code.
The study aims to describe real behaviour patterns in order to
develop airport staff training programs for improving crisis
handling and hazard reduction.
"There appears to be a gap between procedures and actual
behaviour when a threat is recognized and especially when acted
upon. It seems, that in such cases informal group behaviour is as
important as formal procedures," said Prof. Alan Kirschenbaum from
the Technion in Israel, a world expert in disaster management and
initiator and coordinator of BEMOSA. "Cases in which procedures are
not followed should not necessarily be viewed as a negative
phenomenon."
Kirschenbaum added that highly motivated security personnel show
initiative and creativity in handling situations when procedures
are not sufficient or relevant. He noted, however, that not
following procedures was usually a result of lack of skills or
training.
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