Adequate security is essential for any business, whether it involves physical security or cybersecurity.
For companies in the hospitality and nightlife sectors, safety is all-the-more critical due to their connection to public-facing environments. As the manager or owner of a nightlife venue, you should implement effective security solutions that will protect your business, employees and customers from a wide range of risks. Security is not just about preventing incidents from occurring, however, as it can also affect your insurance policies.
Stage Event Security is an experienced security company that provides various services throughout the country, including event security, festival security, static guarding, and mobile patrols.
As specialists in security for nightlife businesses, Stage Event Security have provided us with information on how security can affect your insurance. We review the importance of venue security, your security options, and how security affects nightlife insurance.
Why Is Venue Security Important?
Let’s start with a vital question: why does your nightlife business require venue security?
Ultimately, the objective of venue security should be to protect your staff and your customers from dangerous situations. Threats can include everything from assaults or terrorist attacks to environmental hazards such as poor lighting, trailing cables, and water leaks. Other risks can include vandalism, underage drinking, drug use, intoxication, and anti-social behaviour.
Failure to protect your staff and guests may lead to severe injuries or even death in the worst cases. As well as the direct consequence of someone sustaining an injury, your business can also suffer from financial damage, reputation ruin and licence restrictions. To avoid the consequences, you should be aware of the risks involved and recognise how your insurance policy can protect your business should something go away.
Nightlife venues, such as bars and nightclubs, are often associated with negative publicity if a local news outlet reports on an incident; these businesses is left with a bad reputation to overturn. Night-time is one of the most dangerous times of the day and when people are most vulnerable. People are more likely to be intoxicated at night, visibility is notably reduced, and fewer people are on the streets to deter criminals.
Security directly affects a company’s commitment to following the Licensing Act 2003, a series of regulations that apply to licenced premises. The core aims of the legislation are to prevent crime and disorder, discourage public nuisance, ensure public safety, and protect children from harm. A licence allows a business to sell or supply alcohol, provide regulated entertainment, or provide late night refreshment. If a venue undermines the regulations, then the responsible authority may decide to revoke their licence. Given the importance of a premise’s licence, having it revoked can significantly harm your business’s ability to continue functioning.
What Type of Security Should I Use?
With security, it’s essential to realise that there isn’t a one size fits all solution. There are multiple types of services that can help you achieve the bare minimum standard of security needed.
First of all, you can work with a security company to hire professional door supervisors. The supervisors manage access at the venue, ensuring that only approved people can enter. Before allowing entry, they will search guests for unauthorised and dangerous items, including weapons and drugs. They will also make sure that only people of legal age enter, helping you oblige with the licensing regulations of protecting children. If a situation escalates inside or outside the venue, the supervisors will handle it appropriately to bring it under control.
Bear in mind that a person involved in protecting a licenced premise is required to hold an SIA-Approved Door Supervisor Licence under law. An SIA licence ensures that the supervisor has passed relevant record checks and received the necessary qualifications and training to carry out their duties.
Door supervision is most effective when used alongside technology solutions such as CCTV. One of the more modern security solutions, CCTV primarily has two uses – to deter crime and to identify suspects if a crime has occurred. CCTV can be highly valuable in bringing criminals to court and helping businesses recover financial damages. While nightclubs are often designed to generate dark and atmospheric spaces, this shouldn’t come at the cost of safety. Improve your venue’s lighting to enhance CCTV quality, help people detect suspicious activity, and provide a well-lit area where people feel safe.
Furthermore, your business should operate a policy that instructs employees not to serve any more alcohol to a person if they appear to be intoxicated and a risk to the peace. Work with a security company, perform regular risk assessments to identify weak points as they arise, and patrol the venue periodically to spot suspicious behaviours. Thieves may work stealthily to steal money, high-worth items or sensitive data, so take appropriate measures to store valuables when not in use. Last of all, when your venue is vacant, you can consider static guarding to keep your business protected outside of operating hours. Static guarding will defend against burglaries, property damage and environmental accidents.
How Security Affects Insurance
As we come to the last section, it should now be clear why your business must prioritise venue security and the solutions you can administer. If you go above and beyond to prevent incidents, you will avoid consequences like nasty injuries, hefty financial damages, and reputational ruin. The measures you take will also show the public and your insurance companies that you’ve done the maximum required to guarantee people’s safety. If an incident does occur, at least you can demonstrate that there was nothing more you could have reasonably done to prevent it.
There are different types of insurance policies that businesses require. Generally, companies may need public liability insurance. This policy protects against personal injury claims where a member of the public has suffered an accident. There is also employer’s liability insurance, a legal requirement covering compensation claims made by a staff member following a workplace accident.
Buildings and contents insurance can protect the property and valuables in case of fires, floods or theft. Finally, there is business interruption, a policy that protects income if property damage leads you to be unable to trade. Business interruption allows you to take care of staff wages and expenses and means that you can resume as usual once the premises re-opens. There are also policies tailored to cover the unique risks for nightlife companies, helping to prevent losses and claims made against them.
NDML are insurance specialists in the nightlife sector and can offer advice on the most suitable policies for your business. By implementing adequate security measures, you reduce the likelihood that an accident will occur. With minimal incidents of concern, security prevents you from needing to make claims on your insurance as much as possible.
But will security directly affect your insurance policy? The answer to this question will depend on the provider. Improving your security measures shows insurers that you are mitigating against risk. Therefore, some insurance companies may see your business as a safer bet and will offer a cheaper premium.
The best way to understand how security affects your insurance is by contacting NDML. Their award-winning team will help to tailor your necessary security measures and build strong insurance policies.
