The northern office of the UK’s leading crowd management company, Showsec, has moved to 13 Stanley Street, Manchester M8 8SH. The new contact details are (telephone) 0161-838 5300 and fax: 0161-838 5318.
The news comes at the same time the company was asked to provide some ‘bodies’ of its own to support the controversial Body Worlds 4 Exhibition at the city’s Museum of Science and Industry (MoSI).
Body Worlds 4: a controversial contract
Given its use of real human corpses preserved by the anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens, the exhibition attracted widespread criticism from the Bishop of Manchester in early February.
Although the show has already been seen by 25 million people worldwide, the organisers were concerned that the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch’s remarks might form the focus of demonstrations – and therefore threats to security – against this particular leg of the event.
The exhibition presents more than 200 authentic specimens, including both diseased and healthy organs and whole body specimens that have undergone ‘plastination’ – Dr von Hagens’ groundbreaking method of halting decomposition and preserving the body after death for medical study. During ‘plastination’, all bodily fluids and soluble fat are extracted from specimens and replaced with vacuum-forced impregnation and reactive resins and elastometer (such as rubber, silicon and epoxy). The specimen is then cured with light, heat or certain gases which affords it rigidity and permanence.
The exhibition also features a rolling programme of lectures, workshops and school classroom activities exploring the issues surrounding plastination (including healthy living, anatomy and the ethics of the process).
Publicity could have provoked protests
“The Bishop’s comments gave the exhibition a very high profile in the media,” explained Julian Kumah, Showsec’s operations executive, when talking to info4security. “Chris Jessup, the venue experience manager at the MoSI, was concerned that the publicity could provoke protests, and that there was a small but nonetheless significant risk of disturbance to visitors or the exhibits.”
As a result, the museum’s management took the decision to employ a team of four Showsec staff – headed up by Keith Waterhouse – to supplement the site’s own stewarding and security operation. “We were there to assist and advise Chris and his team,” said Julian. “The main worry was of any danger to visitors or exhibits caused by possible protests inside the museum. We wanted to monitor that people seemed to be going into the exhibition with the right intentions, providing support to the venue’s own stewarding operation as they dealt with flow rates and ticketing.”
Showsec team members were certainly kept busy during the opening days of the show as ticket sales to Body Worlds 4 proved very healthy.
Success on physical intervention course
Eight Showsec members of staff have been presented with their Maybo physical intervention qualification certificates by managing director Mark Harding. Showsec has pioneered course development of this newly-recognised discipline, and the team of staff members represents the first ever group to achieve a qualification of this type.
The new physical intervention course is supported by Skills for Security and the British Institute of Innkeeping’s Awarding Body (BIIAB). Roy Wise, Showsec’s training and development manager, explained: “The course helps staff deal with essential intervention confidently and in the correct manner. It helps them to develop their skills and professionalism, further assuring our clients and the public that we’re continuously progressing standards.”
Headed up by Bill Fox, Maybo is one of the UK’s leading consultancies focusing on workplace violence and conflict resolution. The organisation worked with the two supporting industry bodies to create a professional course just for Showsec, focusing on control measures that reduce the need for physical intervention.
“We sourced the course from Maybo, who tailored specific modules to fit the needs of our company and what we are trying to deliver,” continued Mark Harding. “After this initial success, we will now embark on a programme to develop our own trainers. This will then enable us to deliver the course internally. Congratulations to the team on completing this course.”
The members of staff newly-qualified are: Anthony Preston, Richard Davey, Simon Gunn, June Cliff, Stuart Kennerly, Rachel Evans, Darren Evans and Stuart Cobb.
