Half European Airport Security Personnel Don’t Trust Technology

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Airport Security - The Human Factor

"Airport security employees who did not trust the technology they were working with complied less with the rules, in fact, bending, breaking and even acting against protocols if the situation called for it."

Haifa, Israel (PRWEB) June 20, 2012

Almost half of all security employees in European airports do not trust technology devices, such as X-ray machines, to detect security threats, according to the first in-depth study of European airports conducted by the EU-funded BEMOSA Consortium.

These and other results will be presented at a special workshop hosted by BEMOSA (Behaviour Modelling for Security in Airports) in Brussels on July 10, 2012.

The report, based on over 500 interviews and 700 ethnographic observations held at airports across Europe, found that nearly half of security employees did not trust technology or did not regard it as the best way to detect threats.

The findings raise serious considerations: if workers do not trust basic security procedures, what can we expect of passengers?

BEMOSA concluded that employees who did not trust the technology they were working with complied less with the rules, in fact, bending, breaking and even acting against protocols if the situation called for it.

The results of BEMOSA study show that millions of euros could be saved by airports if they apply some small inexpensive changes.

The BEMOSA research found that 75 percent of the airport security personnel interviewed had never encountered a real threat. Moreover, an employee sounding a false alarm and stopping operations would most likely be fired. These two factors seem to explain the fact that 65% of employees dealt with threats as if they were false alarms.

“Airport managements can change this situation by varying tasks and duties for the employees so they do not get bored on the job,” said the Technion Israel’s Prof. Alan Kirschenbaum, a world expert in disaster management and BEMOSA’s initiator and coordinator.

“Managements should reinforce workers’ feelings of responsibility for others and reward people for adaptive behavior instead of punishing them for not complying with the rules,” he said.

BEMOSA will hold the open workshop in the offices of DG Research of the European Commission in Rue du Champs de Mars 21.

The event is free of charge, but registration is obligatory. You can register either through this link or by sending an e-mail to bemosa@bemosa.eu not later than July 1, 2012.

About BEMOSA
BEMOSA is a Europe-wide research project aimed at improving security in airports through enhancing the capability of airport authority personnel to correctly identify potential security hazards and reduce false alarms.

BEMOSA, which is co-funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, has developed a behavior model that aims to describe how people make security decisions in the face of reality during “normal routine” and crises. This is expected to result in increased security, reduced false alarms and increased profitability.

For more information about BEMOSA, please visit, http://www.bemosa.eu.

Contact
Simon van Dam
Project Manager
BEMOSA
Mobile: +972-54-4563384
E-mail: bemosa@bemosa.eu

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