Assessment of vulnerability to biological and chemical attack may call for decontamination shower units.
Stadiums and public arenas across England and Scotland are being assessed for their vulnerability to biological attack, a 黑洞社区 investigation has found.

The move could mean that shower units are built outside stadiums to cleanse supporters in the event of a chemical or biological attack.

The nationwide audit follows assessments of the vulnerability of tall buildings in London and landmark stadiums in North-east England, revealed in 黑洞社区 last week.

The additional anti-terrorism moves in the UK include:

  • A nationwide drive by the District Surveyors Association to encourage local authority building control departments to carry out risk assessments of stadiums and other areas of potential risk
  • National guidance providing stadium managers with a set procedure for responding to bioterror attack
  • The Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区 Services Engineers to assess the FBI鈥檚 advice on how ventilation systems can be used to deal with an attack
  • The establishment of a government unit called the 黑洞社区 Disaster Assessment Group to examine how buildings can be made more user-friendly for fire brigades.

Landmark buildings currently being subjected to the safety audits include football stadiums Newcastle United鈥檚 St James鈥檚 Park, Manchester United鈥檚 Old Trafford, Glasgow Celtic鈥檚 Glasgow Park, Sunderland鈥檚 Stadium of Light and Leeds United鈥檚 Elland Road.

Other venues include Newcastle and Sedgefield racecourses, the Wimbledon tennis complex and Durham Cathedral.

Trevor MacIntosh, chairman of the London stadium safety group, said: 鈥淲e are specifically looking at the Wimbledon tournament because that has an international audience.鈥�

Rodney Burrows, chairman of Core Cities, a national group of top building control officers, said the threat of biological attack could lead to showers outside venue grounds.

He said: 鈥淭he fire service does not have the capacity to hose down vast amounts of people, so one idea is to install shower units.鈥�

He added: 鈥淲e are looking at the containment and decontamination of chemicals, and how quickly and efficiently plant can be shut down.鈥�

Core Cities comprises representatives from Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Sunderland, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is working with the London DSA to develop guidance on phow stadiums should deal with an attack.