Night-club bouncers get their own British Standard

Night-club 'bouncers' got their own British Standard on December 3, 1999. The British Standard applies to the 100,000 men and women door supervisors playing an increasing role in Britain's night clubs, pubs, bowling alleys, leisure complexes, restaurants and other entertainment venues.

Produced by the British Standards Institution which co-ordinated a range of organisations involved in the leisure security industry, BS 7960:1999 - British Standard Code of Practice for Door Supervisors / Stewards - gives comprehensive guidance on their selection, screening and training.

BS 7960:1999 includes guidance on appearance, behaviour, searches, handling conflicts, and incident reporting procedures. It also outlines a typical training course which, as well as covering drug awareness, first aid and fire safety, stresses the importance of customer care and social skills, including the use of body language to defuse potentially violent situations.

David Lazenby, director standards of BSI, said: "This new British Standard will be of great benefit to the industry and the public. We published a draft standard in 1998, and it received wide acclaim from the industry. The final standard will help make people's visits to entertainment venues across Britain as pleasant as possible, by ensuring that organizations providing or using door staff benefit from best practice.

"These include leisure groups and individual businesses which directly employ door staff, together with small and large agencies which provide staff on a contractual basis."

Door supervision is now accepted as a profession in its own right. A number of registration schemes exist across the country, and professional exams have been introduced this year. Driven by the leisure security industry's wish to improve customer service, door supervisors are now employed at a wide range of venues, from bowling alleys and cinemas through to restaurants, concerts, movie sets and private wedding receptions. Traditionally their activities were exclusively on-site, but now their role is being expanded by some groups of night clubs which jointly arrange for door supervisors to ride buses home with clubbers to ensure that even the journey home is trouble-free.

The draft British Standard was launched in London, England, in December 1998 at the Ministry of Sound, a global leader in the night-club industry. Nodd McDonagh, general manager of the Ministry of Sound said: "Our club is widely regarded as one of the best in the world, and our guests feel confident that they will have an excellent time here. I am pleased to have been involved in producing this important British Standard, which now serves as a benchmark for the whole industry. It is a valuable tool to allow all parties to maintain a high level of service and professionalism."

Roy Ramm, security director of London Clubs International, said: "This is an important initiative which will help to ensure that best practice is spread throughout the industry."

CONTACT BSI PRESS OFFICE:
Wilma Tulloch on +44 (0)20 8996 6330 OR
Marc Edney on +44 (0)20 8996 6330