For the full legal background, start with our Martyn's Law explained overview.
Which venues and events are in scope?
Any qualifying publicly accessible premises, and certain temporary events, where 200 or more people may reasonably be expected at the same time. That covers stadiums and arenas, entertainment and leisure venues, hospitality, retail, visitor attractions, public buildings and places of worship. Because capacity decides scope, a one-off event can be in scope even if your usual premises is not.
Venue requirements by tier
- Standard Duty (200 to 799): written procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication, with staff who understand them.
- Enhanced Duty (800+): those procedures plus a designated senior individual, additional public protection measures, a formal compliance document and the ability to show compliance to the SIA.
Most stadiums, arenas and large venues will fall into the Enhanced Duty. See Standard vs Enhanced Tier for the detail.
Event security and event management
For events, build Martyn's Law into planning rather than bolting it on:
- Decide who is responsible. Organiser, venue operator and landlord may all have a role. Clarify it early and put it in your contracts.
- Assess the event. Expected numbers, layout, queues, entry and exit points, vehicle access and the surrounding public space all matter.
- Brief everyone. Stewards, contractors, agency staff and volunteers need to know their role in each procedure.
- Plan communications. Decide how you will reach staff and attendees, and who contacts the emergency services.
- Debrief afterwards. Record what worked and what to change.
Crowd management and crowd security
Crowd management and counter-terrorism preparedness overlap. Familiar tools such as clear signage, controlled entry, stewarding and egress planning all help if you need to move or hold large numbers of people. The risk assessment should consider how a crowd would behave in each of the main attack methods: marauding attacks, vehicles as a weapon, explosive devices, fire as a weapon, CBRN and cyber-enabled disruption. Vehicle approaches and queueing areas outside the venue deserve particular attention.
Security technology, systems and solutions
Martyn's Law does not require you to buy a particular system, and for many sites procedures matter more than kit. Technology earns its place when it makes compliance easier to maintain and prove. Useful categories include:
- Workforce and training platforms that track who has completed training, flag gaps and keep an audit trail.
- Communication tools that reach staff quickly during an incident.
- Access control, CCTV and alarms, where your risk assessment shows they are proportionate. Remember that cyber attacks can target these systems.
- Central documentation so risk assessments, procedures and reviews are findable when the SIA asks.
When reviewing any venue security system, ask whether it reduces administration and gives leadership clear visibility of preparedness, or whether it just digitises paperwork. Parim helps operational teams bring people, process and evidence together (CTA).
Places of worship
Churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and other places of worship are in scope if they can reasonably expect 200 or more people at once, including for festivals, funerals and community events. Many will fall into the Standard Duty. The same four procedures apply, and volunteers who steward services or events should be included in training. Where a building is shared or hired out, work out who holds responsibility.
Rented, shared and multi-operator sites
Responsibility generally follows whoever has control of the premises. Where several organisations share a site, agree who owns each part of the plan and make sure procedures fit together.
Next steps
Work through our compliance steps and checklist, then plan staff training. If your venue also hosts school events, see Martyn's Law for schools.
