What is Martyn’s Law?

Its full name is the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, part of the Government’s counter terrorism strategy. It’s been developed in response to the Manchester Arena bombing inquiry and an increased need for premises to prepare for major incidents and reduce the risk of harm.

Why is Martyn’s Law Important?

The Government has created the law, because without legal compulsion, counter-terrorism preparedness often falls behind existing legally required activities. The law is designed to support certain premises by outlining ‘reasonably practicable’ measures to take, but without placing onerous or expensive requirements on them.

How does Martyn’s Law apply to me?

Premises open to the public, which can expect to have 200 or more people in attendance at any one time, will be subject to the Law. It establishes a tiered approach. Premises that can reasonably expect 200-799 individuals to be present will fall within the standard tier. Premises or events that can reasonably expect 800 or more individuals to be present will fall into the enhanced tier. 

What kind of measures are required depending on the tiers in Martyn’s Law?

In the standard tier for example, premises will be required to “have in place, so far as reasonably practicable, appropriate public protection procedures that could be reasonably expected to reduce the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an attack was to occur there or nearby.” There’s no one size fits all and premises need to consider their circumstances, but procedures refer to things like lockdown, evacuation and communication processes.

Are there any other recommendations from the Manchester Arena Report?

The Manchester Arena Inquiry made recommendations to help save lives if a major incident occurs. 

They recommended organisations provide Public Access Trauma (PAcT) first aid kits to help save lives and a public education programme and a duty to train employees in first responder interventions. This means organisations would have first aid kits specially designed to deal with traumatic injuries which are readily available to be used and for people to be trained in their use. 

Point 20.158 of the Manchester Arena Inquiry Report Volume 2: Emergency Response states:

“I recommend that the Home Office consider a public education programme and the introduction of a requirement into law, perhaps through regulations issued under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, that employers have a duty to train all employees, or certain categories of employees, in first responder interventions.”

Point 20.211 also states “The idea is that PAcT first aid kits are available in publicly accessible locations and contain the equipment that would be required to provide first responder interventions. The kits also provide basic instructions. They are designed for ready use, even by untrained members of the public.”

How can Life Saving Training help with Martyn’s Law?

From day one, we created Life Saving Training to save lives – through well thought out training. For years, we’ve also offered a range of well thought out medical supplies – from outdoor specific first aid kits, trauma packs and medical trauma bags. We’ve developed PAcT kits which are brightly coloured, highly visible, clearly marked, and with a separate PPE (Personal protective Equipment) pouch on the outside. This means a user does not need to rummage inside the kit to find essential PPE. 

Our kits also fully comply with the Protect UK standards for PAcT kits. We’ve seen some kits available online which don’t meet these standards – so if you need any advice please reach out.

You can find our kits here.

We also love to help by empowering people to respond and help others. Although PAcT kits are designed to be used by untrained members of the public, more effective responses come from people who have prior training and can step into action quickly and confidently. 

Training is at the heart of what we do and why we exist. A lot of our courses already include first responder interventions like tourniquet application, however if you’re interested in a bespoke training session for your premises, to help you to prepare for a worst case scenario that unfortunately could happen, let’s chat. 

More information about Martyn’s Law and the measures required can be found here.