4 Steps to Martyn’s Law Compliance

Martyn’s Law, a Bill set to become UK legislation, will have a transformative impact on the approaches to public safety, anti-terrorism efforts and protections in place across the sectors, covering everything from event venues and healthcare facilities to retail spaces and corporate buildings.

While the Bill has not yet been introduced, it will likely become a mandatory legal obligation for countless organisations and venues, focusing on standardised, best-practice security systems, communications and monitoring.

In this article, we’ll run through our strategic compliance process, where we support organisations keen to meet every requirement as quickly as possible while ensuring they give site users and attendees confidence that the security in place is more than sufficient and will keep them and their loved ones safe.

What is Martyn’s Law?

Martyn’s Law, also known as the Protect Duty, is a proposed piece of legislation in the United Kingdom aimed at improving public safety and protecting people from terrorist attacks. For more information, we’ve written a full guide on Martyn’s law here: What is Maryn’s Law?

4 Steps to Martyn’s Law Compliance

1. Identifying Aspects of Martyn’s Law That Apply to Your Organisation

Step one is to speak with our Martyn’s Law consultants, who have an in-depth understanding of the proposed legislation, how this will apply to venues and businesses of different sizes, and the proposals that will have the biggest impact on your security policies.

The proposals include a tiered system, which means the most stringent safety and risk mitigation controls will be obligatory for larger venues but will still apply to a degree to smaller organisations, reducing depending on maximum capacity.

2. Reviewing Security Measures and Threat Detection Protocols

The next phase is to create a comprehensive audit of every aspect of your security setup, which helps us to map out all the components – including:

• Staff security training policies
• Risk assessment protocols
• Physical security provisions
• Technological security monitoring
• Access controls and permissions

Many organisations have had the same security systems or strategies in place for extended periods, and creating a thorough audit ensures managers and decision-makers have greater clarity about how well those measures are meeting their responsibilities.

This process is also beneficial since it supports the risk assessment process, which is included within the Bill, and eliminates any inefficiencies or duplications where organisations might invest in unnecessary security assets or have current systems or networks that can be integrated into a more advanced and robust security approach.

3. Conducting thorough, Professional Risk Assessments

Once we have a detailed idea of how the legislation will apply to your venue or business and have analysed the extent of your current security assets, surveillance, controls, and policies, we can move on to a full, independent security risk assessment.

Although risk assessments have been a standard across security monitoring for many years and are already mandatory in some areas, such as fire safety, they are often neglected or treated as an administrative exercise rather than a crucial tool to identify weaknesses or areas where greater safeguards are needed.

The primary changes to current risk assessment rules may mean that:

• Venues are required to submit a copy of their completed risk assessment documentation to inspectors or auditors to verify their compliance.
• Risk assessments must be expanded in scope to cover any and all risks linked with terrorist attacks and activity.

Penalties for non-compliance have yet to be established. However, given that this overhaul of anti-terrorist security is wide-ranging and a significant shift in the legislative approach to public safety, they are expected to be considerable.

The key to a robust risk assessment isn’t purely documenting risks, gaps in coverage, or areas of concern but identifying the severity, likelihood, and potential frequency of a threat and proving that appropriate action has been taken to mitigate it to an acceptably low level or eliminate the threat altogether.

Don Then

Group Director of HSEQ

Don Then

Martyn's Law asks organisations to think about what they would actually do, not just what equipment they have. The planning and the staff training tend to matter far more than any single piece of hardware.

4. Introducing Advanced, Compliant Safety Measures and Policies

The final stage in a Martyn’s Law compliance strategy involves discussing the technology, monitoring, training processes, physical security provisions, and other safeguards that will resolve the risks identified in the previous step.

Of course, those could look very different between two organisations, but they might include the following:

• Physical security such as concrete barriers, commercial fencing and anti-vehicle blocks.
• Smart security solutions including AI CCTV, crowd analysis, facial recognition, threat detection and vehicle plate scanning technology.
• Ongoing CCTV monitoring, with 24/7 tracking, to respond to emerging or current threats.
• Emergency and evacuation planning, including communication systems to convey critical information to members of the public.
• Commercial-grade access control solutions, particularly in restricted access or staff areas, to verify the credentials of every individual or vehicle being allowed entry.

Advanced AI-enabled security is likely to play a big part in the security landscape and can support businesses with Martyn’s Law compliance by building on their existing capabilities and introducing 360-degree integrated solutions.

Examples like predictive analytics to track normal behaviour and potential signs of suspicious activity, flag signals of increasing risk, deliver automated, immediate alerts and enable object recognition can all greatly improve responsiveness and lower the risks of a real-world threat emerging.

Why Consult Clearway About Complying With Martyn’s Law?

As security specialists, we recognise that any major changes to the law can be perceived as worrying or costly.

We also appreciate that for many venues and businesses, early adoption or staggered improvements may be crucial to remaining within their budgets and upgrading security approaches in a manageable, strategic way.

Our Martyn’s Law consultants remain up to speed with this and other legislative reforms, as well as the latest in surveillance tech, automated controls, and on-demand threat detection. We are committed to providing our clients with access to the most advanced solutions to deliver best-in-class security solutions.

Following the process outlined here helps organisations clarify how the law will apply to them, identify the most urgent and necessary actions they need to take, and update their policies and protocols across the board while planning for security improvements that may not have been factored into current-year budgets.

We always begin with a private consultation, which allows us to discuss your concerns, priorities, or position, gain a full understanding of your organisation’s status and any factors that might influence your mandatory security obligations, and work closely with you to implement the right solutions in the right places.

Contact Clearway at any time to learn more about the reforms being introduced or to arrange a convenient time to discuss how we can assist.

Written by Don Then

Group Director of HSEQ

View Don’s LinkedIn profile More articles by Don

Don is an accomplished Risk and Safety Leader with over 20 years’ experience delivering safety culture transformation and operational excellence across high-hazard, multi-site and regulated environments, combining strategic governance with hands-on leadership. Holding a Professional Doctorate in Risk Management and an MSc in Risk Management and Safety Leadership, and recognised as CMIOSH, FIIRSM and CEnv, Don has led divisional and programme-wide HSEQ/HSES strategies, embedded ISO management systems (9001, 14001 and 45001), and strengthened assurance, audit and compliance performance at scale. His career includes senior director roles in global logistics and manufacturing, and two decades with the UK regulator as a warranted Principal Inspector and policy leader (including authoring CDM 2015), bringing deep expertise in investigation, enforcement standards, and stakeholder engagement. Don is known for pragmatic, risk-led decision making, influencing at board level, and developing high-performing teams that consistently improve incident performance and operational resilience.