Bouncer shot for telling clubbers to stop smoking

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Title – Bouncer shot for telling clubbers to stop smoking
Source – Evening Standard
Date – 24th July 2007

The smoking ban in England was a controversial issue. Non-smokers loved the idea and smokers felt abandoned and exiled into the cold. Some managers embraced it and others ignored it at their peril. But everyone had to enforce the ban to remain operational.

What few had anticipated, was that the ban would lead to aggression and violence. In the tragic case of James Oyebola, a Door Supervisor, ex-heavyweight boxer and Olympic bronze medallist, who was shot several times in the head and died in hospital a few days later, was that it was yet another flash point for door supervisors across the country to contend with. This senseless and cowardly killing just highlights further the dangers faced by staff (on or off duty) when they intervene to deal with even the most seemingly mundane situations.

Door Supervisors continue to work together to help each other maintain safety in their various workplaces. In many town centres organised schemes are in place to allow door supervisors to summon help when they need it from colleagues working in different venues in the same town. Sometimes these formal arrangements are backed up by radio communications, but they are also often informal arrangements where door supervisors simply know each other well and will socialise after work or check up on each other, in order to both inform themselves and to feel part of a community that looks after its own. When this is done in a professional way it can enhance the safety of individuals considerably and it makes what can be a very isolating job, feel more community based.

Door Supervisors get a very bad press, even now several years after the SIA introduced a system of licensing and eradicating the criminal element from the industry, the press still use the negative connotations in the word 'Bouncer' to describe those people that work the most antisocial hours, often in very hard conditions, for a relatively low rate of pay and spend every night putting themselves on the line to protect others and uphold the law.

James was more then a bouncer, he was an Olympian and a professional door supervisor working alongside colleagues to uphold the law.


Beyond The Blue is a Training, Consultancy and Event Management company set up to provide professional training to those working in the security industry and the licensed retail sector and to bring the professional skills now being recommended by the SIA and other sector bodies to a wider public and corporate organisations. Our Conflict Management & Resolution Course enables individuals working in any workplace where conflict occurs, to act effectively to resolve it before it turns to aggression or violence. For individuals wishing to get into door supervision, we also run National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS).



Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk

Doorman shot dead shielding girl clubber, 21

Title – Doorman shot dead shielding girl clubber, 21
Source – London Lite
Date – 16th July 2007

Had Kolawole Babadiya been an ordinary member of the public or had he been a public servant such as a police officer, this story would have made headline news. A man putting other people’s safety in front of his own and protecting a young lady from harm selflessly. But Kolawole worked as a door supervisor in an industry that still has a bad name and is still looked upon by the outside world, as a kind of underworld that they would rather not get involved with or know too much about.

It is undoubtedly true that there were underworld elements in the security world for many years, but the Security Industry Act 2001 started all of us working in the industry, on the path of professionalism and it is down to all of us to ensure that we take it further and make it better. Employees and employers alike have a duty to the public and their colleagues, to ensure that the industry grows from these beginnings, to allow us to reflect what those working within it are actually about.

There are door supervisors across the country performing heroics, there is not a night that goes by without someone standing up and protecting those that can’t protect themselves and ensuring they get to go home safely. Sadly however few nights go by without an injury occurring to a door supervisor trying to protect a member of the public or resolve conflict and this heroism often goes unnoticed and unrecognised by the communities they work in. But few door supervisors go into the role for public acclaim, most are happy to know in themselves that they are performing a vital role in society and one that few are willing to take on because of the risk associated and the relative lack of protection they are afforded.

Kolawole Babadiya is one of society’s heroes and should be recognised as such. According to this report he stepped forward to protect another and paid the ultimate price. There is noting that could have protected him from this cowardly attack and he would have been aware of that when he took the action he did. How more heroically can anyone in our society act.

All of us who work in the security industry have a responsibility to continue to improve the levels of professionalism we all demonstrate, in order to ensure that those heroes amongst us can be recognised for their role by the wider society. The respect that this recognition will generate in turn will make our working lives easier and safer.

Training is now mandatory for those working in the security industry. We provide National Certificate for Door Supervisors courses (NCDS) for corporate clients as well as individuals seeking to apply for a Door Supervisors License. But we also provide further training that the SIA, as well as other leading bodies including the police, acknowledge is essential for the industry to progress. These include Physical Intervention Courses (PI), In-House Security Induction Courses (IHSI), Conflict Management & Resolution (CMR) and others that we are continuing to develop to help those working within the industry to move to the next level of professionalism.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk

Lone nurses ‘at risk of attack’

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Title – Lone nurses ‘at risk of attack’Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 9th July 2007

This Royal College of Nursing survey reiterates what anyone working in the NHS, whether they work alone or as part of a team within a surgery or hospital already knows; the NHS is not an altogether safe place to work and the problem of aggression and violence faced by all healthcare workers, remains at an unacceptable level.

There can never be a reasonable excuse for any individual saying a bad word to a health care worker in the course of their duties, let alone acting aggressively or violently. These individuals are the ones we call to our aid when we most need assistance and anything but thanks, is simply unacceptable.

However we are also all aware that some sections of, and individuals within, our community, either hold different views, are prejudice or are simply unable to control their emotions and their aggressive / violent tendencies. So with this in mind we must not stop working on eradicating any instance of work related violence, but must also prepare those working in these environments to deal with these situations effectively and professionally.

It is clearly proven that to resolve the problem we first need to understand it. In workplaces across the country and across almost all sectors, there is a continuing problem of under-reporting of incidents of violence in the workplace. People affected on a regular basis see these incidents as part of their working environments and something they 'just have to get on with'. It is certainly true that we have to deal with these situations; but reporting them helps not only record the incidents for employers to be aware of and act upon, it can also aid in the understanding of trends, patterns and ultimately solutions to these problems. Reporting can also play a key role in those individuals involved, coming to terms with what happened and preventing re-occurrence in the future.

Ultimately the approach of the Security Management Services of the NHS is a positive one, the solution to reducing the number of incidents of workplace violence within the NHS and other organisations where staff face similar problems is three fold:

1. Reporting, Recording and Monitoring.

2. Training – Especially Conflict Resolution Training and in more serious cases Physical Intervention Training

3. Technology

We run courses in Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) and Physical Intervention (PI) for clients from a variety of sectors, both private and public. We understand that each situation is very different and research the needs of our clients carefully before tailoring our courses to meet their needs specifically.
Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk