Are We Safe in UK Airports? No Background Checks of Employees In The Security Standards’ Forms
“At least fifty ISIS supporters are working as baggage handlers, cleaners and catering staff at Brussels airport” claimed Brussels police following the terror attacks that left thirty people dead and around two hundred injured. To those who survived the atrocities or lost their loved ones in the attacks, this new information will no doubt bring more grief. The general public will blame the Police and Brussels Airport security for not taking required measures to prevent the attacks.
For me, the news is not surprising. Having sat Heathrow Authorised Signatory’s training a few years back, I must admit the procedures employed are not engineered to protect the public from ISIS sympathisers, or from anyone else really.
The Airport Staff Access Cards
The latest revision of Heathrow Airport ID Application Standards has been in circulation since 2013 – how much has changed since 2013 in terms of security is for readers to judge. The document is twenty-eight pages long and includes all procedures in relation to the application. It is available in PDF format on the Heathrow Airport website for everyone to examine. Now, the transparency is generally a good thing but how does it serve the interests of the general public when it comes to the security issues?
In short, there are two main types of permanent passes – Landside Pass and Airside Pass, depending on the access required to carry out duties.
Landside Pass
In light of heightened security alert and UK terror threat level raised to the highest possible for last few years, one might find it surprising that in order to apply for a Landside permanent pass Heathrow Airport doesn’t demand either Security check or Criminal Record check. Nor it requires references from previous employers or necessitates a security interview. In other words, the procedure is nothing but a hot –luke warm more like- air. I dread to think how many terrorist sympathisers might be sweeping floors and selling coffee in the UK airports.
Airside Pass
But what about the Airside Pass? Surely, anyone who has an access to the Critical Part of the Security Restricted Area, including runway, baggage areas, plane maintenance areas, etc should have been checked and verified, right? I hate to break your bubble, but it isn’t that straight forward.
It’s true that one needs to provide employment references and CRB form and sit the ‘Security Interview’ but what tools does the Authorised Signatory have to identify the potential terrorist?
As follows from the Standards, the purpose of the interview is very much nominal:
When it comes to questioning people, not everybody feels comfortable asking provoking questions, mainly for the fear of being labelled as ‘racist’, ‘sexist’, or any other fancy word ending with ‘-phobe’. So, more often than not, the interview revolves around the hard evidence – references, CRB form, and the ID.
Once this is out of the way, there is nothing that stops employees from getting the pass – the spot checks in the processing centre are way too sporadic and most of the applications are approved without any faff.
It is true that one must justify the necessity for either the airside or landside pass. It is also true that the Authorised Signatory is constantly reminded of the responsibility and potential consequences. But as long as the procedure itself doesn’t stand any critics, we can’t be sure of our safety – not in airports.
Benjamin Franklin is known to have said that those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety deserve neither. It’s true, stripping the whole population off their privacy for the sake of security is not a great idea, not even in the age of heightened security threats.
There was one Briton among the victims in Brussels Airport and in the Metro station. We rightly blame Brussels for ‘not following correct security procedures’ even after Turkey informed Belgian authorities a year ago that the two terrorist brothers they had deported were ISIS combatants. The truth is that our procedures, even when followed, can’t guarantee public safety.
We contacted Heathrow Airport for their comments but they haven’t responded thus far.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).