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Airports urged to take lead from UK

The Australian: Steve Creedy, Aviation writer

AUSTRALIA should follow Britain and introduce full screening for all airport workers entering restricted areas, a former Heathrow security chief has urged.

Norman Shanks, who managed security at the London airport between 1986 and 1991, before becoming head of group security for major airport operator BAA, said that increased background checks were insufficient in themselves to prevent security breaches.

Increased background checks for airport workers are among several recommendations in a report by British expert John Wheeler, released last week by the Howard Government and due to be discussed today at COAG.

COAG will look at recommendations to beef up policing at airports -- including the appointment of police commanders at the nation's 11 biggest facilities -- and who should pay for it.

The federal Opposition has accused the Howard Government of buck-passing by seeking a state contribution and ignoring Sir John's recommendation that it be federally funded.

But Mr Shanks said Australian airports should look beyond the report's recommendations. "The focus on Wheeler and some other reports has been background checking of staff who go into secure areas," he said.

"That's great because it will tell you which people have been foolish enough to have been caught in the past and who have criminal records.

"But it doesn't tell you about the clever ones who have avoided detection and who ... could be sleepers or could be so smart that they haven't come up on anybody's radar.

"And the only way you can deal with that, to prevent them from taking something through as a member of staff, is to screen all staff going into the secure areas in the same way that passengers are screened."

Australian airport operators and Qantas stepped up random searches of staff, and reduced the number of access points to restricted areas, after police investigations and a leaked Customs report uncovered security problems at Sydney airport.

Mr Shanks acknowledged full screening would add to costs but said it was introduced with few problems at British airports after the 1988 Lockerbie terrorist bombing and was now being considered by the EU.