Emergency services get a lesson in breaking in
9th April 2019

Police and Fire & Rescue personnel in Greater Manchester have been given vital lessons on time-saving break-in techniques with the help of Lancashire-based ERC Testing.

As standards of door and window security grow ever tougher, it makes it harder for ‘the right people’ to gain entry in an emergency, especially when time is critical, as ERC MD Bill Keating explained:

“It’s a big responsibility to make sure a product is fit for purpose and protects homeowners in the way they think they’ll be protected, but equally, as our industry have made locks better and better, there is also a responsibility to allow the right people to gain access under any circumstances, namely the emergency services.

Laboratory manager Mike Hackett added: “We’ve been using some innovative techniques to challenge the hardware and thought that, with fire safety top of the public agenda at present, we would contact our local fire and police stations in Leigh to offer to share our knowledge on the latest door lock manipulation techniques. This offer was well received and we were pleased to welcome Method of Entry Training Instructors from both Greater Manchester Police Force and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to the Lab, where we went through some examples of lock manipulation. The feedback we received suggested the information we shared with them was useful.

“The fenestration industry’s focus on hardware is mainly to deter the opportunist burglar, which means the time taken to manipulate the lock is critical. This is also true for the Emergency Services which is why we decided to contact them.”

www.erc-testing.com