Search planning

Search planning should be incorporated into your overall security plan. Searches may be conducted as part of routine good housekeeping - in shops, for example, at the close of business or when there is a security alert in your area.

Staff involved in searching your premises must be familiar with the areas they are searching and with what they would normally expect to find there, but they do not need to be experts in explosives or other devices. In particular, they should look for anything that should not be there or is out of place, and anything that cannot be accounted for. Ideally, staff should search in pairs to ensure nothing is missed.

In the event of evacuation, searches should be made prior to re-occupation of your premises and that responsibility lies with the businesses occupying the premises. The police will take responsibility for the public areas adjacent to buildings or sites. When preparing a search plan you should:

• appoint a Search Co-ordinator to produce and maintain your search plan. He or she should initiate any searches and liaise with other searchers
• divide your building into search sectors, each of a manageable size for one or two searchers
• prioritise the important areas that need to be searched, particularly those areas open to the public, other vulnerable areas such as cloakrooms, stairs, corridors and lifts, as well as evacuation points and routes, car parks and other outside areas such as goods or loading bays
• consider how to initiate the search:
  • by sending a message over a public address system (perhaps coded to avoid unnecessary disruption and alarm)
  • by personal radios or pagers
  • by telephone cascade.
• ensure the searchers know what to do on discovering a suspicious item - under no circumstances should it be touched or moved in any way - and the police should be informed immediately
• contact your local police Counter Terrorism Security Adviser (CTSA) with regard to search planning.