Tate of the Art

Situated on a 4.3 hectare site on the south side of the River Thames opposite St Paul's Cathedral, the building comprises upwards of four million bricks and boasts a northern frontage that's over 200 metres long. The most noticeable change to Scott's already clean and simple exterior design is the magnificent two-storey lightbeam spanning the length of the roof, which not only provides natural light to the upper floor gallery spaces but also houses a café offering spectacular views across London.

Inside, the metamorphosis from power station to spacious, modern art gallery – completed in time for the official Royal opening on 11 May 2000 – is equally memorable. Once past the main entrance, visitors are greeted by the genuinely magnificent Turbine Hall, a 'covered street' sprawling over 3,300 square metres that plays host to ticketing booths, the main Tate shop and Clore Education Centre (where schoolchildren can take a well-earned rest during their organised tours).

Gallery and exhibition spaces adorn Floors One through to Five, while the 240-seat Starr Auditorium on the First Floor is used for presentations and corporate events. There's also a special Members' Room on the Sixth Floor. All of the internal spaces are flanked by the addition of nine passenger lifts (four of them for public use) and no less than six huge escalators convey visitors from floor to floor.

Not surprisingly, visitor numbers at Tate Modern have exceeded all original forecasts and expectations. In fact, a staggering 20 million people have passed through its doors since the gallery opened to the general public the day after Her Majesty The Queen 'cut the ribbon'. Around 26,000 individuals dropped by to check out the dual Matisse and Picasso exhibition on one particular Saturday back in 2002, although the mean average across the year is reckoned to be 16,000 per day.

From Forces to Security
Quite a test, then, for the building's operators. Particularly Dennis Ahern, Tate Modern's security and safety manager who applied for the post at the tail end of 1999. "I'd already been considering a variety of roles," opines the 43-year-old Nottingham-born professional, "and was initially looking at retail security."

That would indeed have represented a logical progression through the commercial sector for Ahern, given the time he'd spent working as a security officer at The Grosvenor House Hotel in what was his first security role.

"I had just left the Armed Forces in the summer of 1991, having served as a member of the Royal Air Force Police. That job took me to various parts of the world including Germany, Gibraltar and South and Central America." Ahern entered the Counter-Intelligence Division in 1986 but, having served Queen and Country from the ages of 17 through to 30, a new challenge was due.

"At the time there was quite a waiting list to join the civil police," chips in Ahern. "Unlike now, of course, so that's why I went to work at The Grosvenor. It was an in-house post serving Forte Hotels as it was then. The job basically centred on Front of House duties, dealing with problems faced by the guests, conferences and banquets, awards dinners, VIPs and visits by foreign royals and diplomats."

For many outsiders, the security industry was regarded – and still is, to a large extent – as something of a poor relation. "The reality is that it's a management support function," adds Ahern. "At Forte Hotels, we viewed security solely as the management of risk, whatever those risks may be and wherever they'd come from. It was our duty to try and achieve the objectives of the organisation in terms of protecting people, assets and profit."

Ahern graduated through the ranks to become brand security manager at Meridien Hotels, which was part of the overall Forte operation. "The brand for which I had total responsibility was the five-star Meridien Group," he says proudly. "It was a multi-site role involving support for the directors in complying with the company's safety and security policies and co-ordinating loss prevention strategies." An excellent grounding.

Those Security Management Today readers who scan The Financial Times will remember that the Meridien Group was bought out by Granada Hotels in 1999. Granada made significant structural changes to their operation, and Ahern – along with several of his colleagues – found that he was a casualty of corporate rationalisation.

Every cloud has a silver lining, though. The retail idea abandoned, Ahern applied for the post at Tate Modern after seeing an advert in London's nightly newspaper The Evening Standard, of which he's an avid reader.

By coincidence, the management team at Tate Britain and Tate Modern – headed up by hugely supportive director Sir Nicholas Serota – was also changing its approach to security. In essence, they were looking for someone that could successfully combine the security and Health and Safety functions within a single managerial role.

There has to be some sort of operational benchmark for us all. Whether that benchmark will be achieved with the SIA approach only time will tell, but we must all be subject to regulation

DENNIS AHERN (SECURITY AND SAFETY MANAGER, TATE MODERN)

Armed with his commercial sector security experience and a Diploma in Safety Management from the Royal Society of Health – gained while in the employ of Forte Hotels – Ahern duly threw his hat into the ring.

Moving to Tate Modern
It was to prove a fortuitous decision. Following a "rigorous" interview process, Ahern was appointed safety and security manager at Tate Modern just five months before opening day.

The initial schedule was tough. From a standing start, he had to devise a security and safety implementation package, specify and appoint the contract services providers and manage the wholesale transition from construction site (under the Construction, Design and Management Regulations 1994) through to high profile public building.

Ahern takes up the story. "I had to consider all the aspects associated with handover and commissioning of the building, the installation of each initial art collection and the development and presentation of a bespoke training package to a completely new workforce." Within that educational regime, this erudite and hugely dedicated professional had to cover the "essential life safety topics", confrontation and crowd management, asset protection – a major consideration given that many works exhibited in Tate Modern really are priceless – and business continuity issues.

"Before we opened, my role was all about developing teams, and looking at where and when we would need to put certain security and safety elements in place," suggests Ahern. "We had to look beyond 12 May and plan for the longer term."

Ahern's role has grown in parallel with that of Tate Modern's. Necessarily, it's very much a hands-on operational position, with regular duty management involvement in all aspects of licensing – Ahern holds a Tate London responsibility for liquor and public entertainment licenses at Tate Modern and Tate Britain – fire safety and evacuation planning.

On top of that, he also looks after the claims management element of Tate's insurance structure. "That's all to do with public liability," states Ahern in purposeful tones. "Those claims made against us for accidents and injuries on site" (which, to Ahern's great credit, have been few and far between).

Risk management challenge
For Ahern, the risks his organisation face are quite simple to explain. "We open our doors to several thousand strangers every day," he comments. "We don't have a screening policy for people coming into the building as would a club, for example" (although bags of certain sizes must be deposited in The Turbine Hall cloakroom). "The accessibility of the building carries with it a certain degree of risk that has to be accepted. That being the case, we constantly need to evaluate the risks and try and mitigate them to the best of our ability."

Ahern is adamant that the protection and safety of people – be they members of staff or the public – is the prime concern. "We've never put artwork before people, and nor would we."

The protection policies now in place are framed by core agreements with Tate Modern's service partners. "We work very closely with them," says Ahern. "Security contractor Wilson James, for instance, has been with us since before the building opened. We've grown together to produce exactly the kind of security provision we need. That security provision must first and foremost be effective and disciplined, but it also has to embody a strong customer care-style approach and constantly exhibit a 'can do' attitude. I haven't created an environment where people say: 'That's part of my job, but this task isn't'. We always work together towards the common objective."

Provided by Wilson James, the core security team comprises 22 staff (including co-ordinators and logistics specialists) deployed by Alan Webster, the contractor's security co-ordinator who works with Ahern to sort out operational issues, manning levels and general discipline. The security operatives also look after portering and reception duties, as well as the three loading bays at the East End of the building (one each for art deliveries and collections, refuse and general deliveries/administration).

With so much art on display, swathes of colour abound throughout the building. That colour 'theme' extends to the security operatives' attire – smart designer suits over orange polo shirts for officers (with purple polos for the supervisors). Orange polos are also worn by the gallery assistants (who look after each exhibition area, and are part of the Front of House visitor services team overseen by Ahern's immediate manager Brian Gray, the head of operations and visitor services).

In practice, gallery assistant numbers are exhibition-dependent, with the full team totalling between 60 and 70 (that quantity comprising a mixture of in-house team members and individuals supplied by Tate Modern's other main service partner, Trident Safeguards, whose on-site supervisor David Bateman takes care of day-to-day issues).

"There's a core element within the security team that works a 24-hour function around the opening hours of the building, which extend from 10.00 am through to 6.00 pm on Sunday to Thursday and from 10.00 am to 10.00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays," says Ahern.

My role is one element of achieving the objectives set by Tate Modern, but it isn’t the ultimate objective. Some security managers tend to lose sight of that fact on occasion, and fail to see their main function is to support their colleagues towards achi

Although there's a 24-hour rota in operation, Ahern is very strict on the number of hours officers work in any one shift. "When we entered into the initial tendering process, I was insistent that the spirit of the Working Time Directive should form a key element of the discussions. This is hugely important when security companies are costing out contracts. There needs to be a realistic schedule for a proper rate of pay." Quite so.

Systems to mitigate risks
As you'd expect, there's a significant CCTV camera arrangement on site which, in essence, serves two functions – one is the monitoring of the gallery spaces themselves, the other surveillance of the building's perimeters. Included within that set-up are no less than 250 Bosch and JVC high resolution colour cameras, supported by a Europlex access control system.

PTZs complete with infrareds are distributed around the external perimeter and monitored from a dedicated on-site Control Room, while inside there's the usual cocktail of movement sensors and alarms. Suffice to say that Ahern's procurement choices are working very well.

Only recently, Ahern mirrored the decision of many other private sector managers by transferring from analogue to digital recording. "The cameras already installed were compatible, so all we had to do was strip out the bank of 20 or so VCRs and change to using a fairly large hard drive."

The system comprises 15, 16-channel Dedicated Micros network video digital recorders and Vista monitors sourced from Norbain and installed by Vistech, in addition to five American Dynamics DigiMux integrated DVRs and multiplexers.

Ahern continues: "The risk assessments we carry out on particular works of art really determine what type of physical security provision needs to be brought in for any one exhibition. Part of the planning process with a given curator involves him or her discussing with us how they envisage the look of their final display. We'll then analyse that structure against perceived risks, and perhaps make suggestions for alternative arrangements that may be a touch more secure."

Ahern believes there ought to be a "healthy tension" in dealings between curator and security manager. "If we had our way, the degree of interaction the public might have with a given piece of art could well be very limited indeed. There'd be screens in front of many of the works, but we don't want that as it would detract from people's enjoyment."

The Health and Safety element
One particularly interesting element of Ahern's role concerns the management of Health and Safety. "Displays could well have an electrical element to them," explains Ahern. "They might otherwise involve chemicals or bio-hazards. You just don't know what an artist's going to produce. Look at Damien Hirst's work, where he's been prone to using significant amounts of formaldehyde. The weight of artworks and their stability must also be subject to scrutiny. Are displays potentially combustible or flammable? These are all key areas to look at."

Ahern is a manager who has to be on his mettle at all times. What he also needs at his disposal is a particular array of skills, but which ones exactly? "A problem-solving ability is absolutely essential," elicits Ahern.

"There's a requirement for flexibility in approach, and a central need to have the 'end game' or ultimate objective of what it is you're doing in sight. My role is one element of achieving the objectives set by Tate Modern, but it isn't the ultimate objective. Some security managers tend to lose sight of that fact on occasion, and fail to see their main function is to support their colleagues towards achieving a stated final goal." An intuitive appraisal that shouldn't be lost on the majority.

Ahern also feels that he must exhibit a level of humility. To him, the team ethic is massively important. He doesn't stop team members from coming forward with ideas, and will always look to help them find a satisfactory solution to their current problems.

That said, by his own admission Ahern is "fairly disciplinarian" when it comes to the general presentation and motivation of individuals under his charge. In assured voice, he comments: "A big part of the security officer's role is the visual aspect. If that isn't there, there's rarely an opportunity for a member of the public to find out whether or not that individual is the best security officer ever because 99.9% of visitors will not approach that person in the first place."

Empowerment is also vitally important to Ahern, who makes sure he keeps abreast of security issues by maintaining memberships of the Royal Society of Health, the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management, the Institute of Fire Engineers and the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS). He harbours an innate desire to make sure his people have the ability and confidence to take decisions and then change things without recourse to automatic referral.

For his part, Brian Gray regularly challenges Ahern's own approach to his busy role, making sure that every detail has been explored, evaluated and carefully thought through. "That's as it should be," concludes Ahern.

On the learning curve
Just recently, Ahern decided to cement his professional status still further by studying hard for – and subsequently attaining – the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) qualification offered by the aforementioned American-based body ASIS International.

"CPP was brought to my attention by Chris Smith" (now the head of regional security for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at HSBC Bank plc, but once Ahern's manager at Forte Hotels). "I'd been sizing up various options for obtaining a documented and certificated professional qualification to state that I'd attained a certain level of knowledge and skill in the security arena. CPP offered me an excellent way of doing so that didn't necessarily entail a significant amount of academic time out, which I really wasn't in a position to accommodate."

The examinations for CPP are tough ('Why should you become a CPP?', SMT, March 2004, p51), and there's a good deal of self-learning involved, but Ahern wasn't dissuaded from his goal. "The way in which the UK Chapter of ASIS International runs things, with working weekends at Loughborough University, is excellent," assures Ahern. "CPP has really made me apply my theory in a focused manner."

Dennis Ahern has certainly come a long way from his humble beginnings at Nottingham printers William Allen, where he first worked after leaving school at 16 prior to joining up. He'll certainly need his wits about him over the next three months, when Tate Modern plays host to the first Edward Hopper showing in the UK for over two decades.