Marshalls landscape protection products at Kettering

The importance of accreditation in landscape protection

Paul Haggerty, Marshalls plc
Thursday 9th June, 2022

In this article, Paul Haggerty, HVM Business Development Manager at Marshalls Landscape Protection, explores the benefits of independent industry accreditation and what it means for our customers.

Accreditation is a process in which products or services are independently and impartially tested by professional assessors and technical experts to ensure that they meet a required standard. For businesses, a major benefit is the credibility that is rewarded by accreditation.

The neutral and unbiased position of accrediting bodies means that all successful assessments are the result of outstanding quality being shown by a company. For consumers, accreditation can be a useful decision-making tool, allowing consumers to quickly identify and compare the most credible companies that suit their needs.

At Marshalls Landscape Protection, we recognise the importance of accreditation and are currently involved in two schemes.

Perimeter Security Suppliers Association (PSSA)

The PSSA is a trade association for companies within the perimeter protection sector. Its main objectives include:

- To raise the standard within the industry of products and installation of these products.

- To provide product and installer selection assistance for customers via an independently verified set of criteria on which to judge a product

- To provide distinction from suppliers and products not able to meet PSSA’s rigorous standards

- Clear, transparent evidence that suppliers’ claims of compliance and testing are correct and not misrepresentations - Alignment with and support for national security strategy

To become a member of the PSSA, all companies must complete a thorough verification process. Introduced in 2011, the scheme aims to provide confidence to consumers regarding the quality and performance of HVM systems. It instils this confidence by offering assurances that a product is fit for purpose, meeting all necessary market and regulatory requirements, and that products are consistently manufactured and supplied to an agreed specification.

Speaking on the relationship between the PSSA and Marshalls, and the benefits of working with its suppliers, is Paul Jeffrey, Chairman at the PSSA: “Marshalls has had PSSA certification for several years, with many of its HVM solutions currently sitting on our HVMhub. All our members have been vetted to ensure that they are reputable, safety conscious suppliers. As such, choosing to work with our members is essential to guarantee effective, quality protective solutions.

Secured by Design (SBD)

Secured by Design (SBD) is the UK’s official police security initiative, owned and operated by the Police Service, which works to improve the security of buildings and their surroundings by working closely with architects, builders, developers, local authorities and registered housing associations to incorporate police crime prevention standards from initial concept and design, through to construction and completion.

On behalf of the UK Police Service, SBD also operates an accreditation scheme for products or services that have met recognised security standards. These products or services – which must be capable of deterring or preventing crime - are known as being of a ‘Police Preferred Specification’.

The Police Preferred Specification scheme ensures that products are sufficiently robust to resist physical attack by casual and opportunistic criminals.  The SBD focus is on the critical factors that combine to deliver a product’s performance - design, use, quality control and the ability to deter or prevent crime.

Products that have met the Police Preferred Specification provides reassurance to the specifier, purchaser or user  that their products have been independently tested to a relevant security standard and fully certified by an independent third-party certification body recognised by the  United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), or tested and certified by an alternative approved body.

Member products that do receive SBD’s approval are collated on its extensive product database. The database contains a variety of systems, ranging from simple locks through to HVM solutions.

SBD Technical Manager Alfie Hosker SBD explains the work that the SBD does and why it is so valuable: “More than one million homes have been built to SBD crime prevention standards across the UK – that’s 30% of all new homes built – with reductions in crimes such as burglary of up to 87% as reported by Police Scotland. These are sustainable reductions each and every year, which is significant as most SBD homes are in social housing, many in deprived and higher crime areas. 

Better quality means these products last longer too, making them more cost effective and leading to greater sustainability in crime prevention. Choosing to use products which have achieved the Police Preferred Specification is the best way to ensure the highest standards of protection against opportunistic criminals.

What does this mean for Marshalls?

Whilst accreditation is important to all sectors, for Marshalls Landscape Protection the value it provides is priceless. Due to the role of the products that we offer, responsible for protecting people in potentially life-threatening situations, accreditation proves to our customers, and even ourselves, that our products are reliable and capable of performing to the standard that we claim they will. This gives us enormous confidence that in the unfortunate situation in which one of our products is required, it will perform.

Visit our website to find out more about our HVM solutions. 

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