AI CCTV & Martyn's Law glossary

Martyn's Law

Martyn's Law is the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, which requires UK venues with a capacity of 200 or more to take proportionate steps to reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks. It received Royal Assent in April 2025 and enforcement is expected in April 2027.

The Act is named after Martyn Hett, one of 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017. It is regulated by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Standard Tier

Standard Tier is the Martyn's Law category for venues with a capacity of 200 to 799. It requires documented public protection procedures, staff training, SIA notification, and a named Responsible Person, but does not require new equipment or physical alterations.

Enhanced Tier

Enhanced Tier is the Martyn's Law category for venues with a capacity of 800 or more. It requires everything in Standard Tier plus a formal terrorism risk assessment, a documented security plan submitted to the SIA, a Designated Senior Individual, and reasonably practicable physical protective measures.

The Responsible Person

The Responsible Person is the named individual accountable for a venue's compliance with Martyn's Law. They notify the SIA and are the regulator's point of contact. The duty cannot be outsourced to a contractor.

Where the Responsible Person is not an individual (a company or trust), the venue must also appoint a Designated Senior Individual who is personally accountable.

Designated Senior Individual

A Designated Senior Individual is a director or senior manager personally accountable for Martyn's Law compliance at an Enhanced Tier venue where the Responsible Person is an organisation rather than an individual.

Active monitoring

Active monitoring is the real-time observation and response to what cameras are seeing, as opposed to reactive CCTV that is only reviewed after an incident. Under Martyn's Law, Enhanced Tier venues are expected to demonstrate active monitoring of the premises and immediate vicinity.

AI behaviour detection is one way to deliver active monitoring at scale, because it watches every camera continuously and escalates only when a relevant pattern is detected.

COMAH

COMAH stands for the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015. It applies to UK sites that store or use threshold quantities of dangerous substances, including chemical plants, refineries, distilleries, and explosives sites. It has two tiers: Lower Tier and Upper Tier.

For flammable substances such as spirit, Lower Tier applies at 5,000 tonnes and Upper Tier at 50,000 tonnes. There are around 70 Scotch Whisky processing sites under COMAH.

RIDDOR

RIDDOR is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. It requires UK employers to report certain workplace injuries and dangerous occurrences to the HSE. On construction sites, exclusion zone breaches and falls are common RIDDOR-reportable events.

SIA (Security Industry Authority)

The Security Industry Authority is the UK regulator responsible for Martyn's Law. From April 2027 it will have powers to inspect premises, issue compliance and restriction notices, and impose financial penalties on operators who fail to meet their obligations.

DSEAR

DSEAR stands for the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002. It requires UK employers to assess and control the risks from substances that can cause fires and explosions. It applies alongside COMAH on many hazardous sites.

Evacuate

Evacuate is the public protection procedure of moving people out of a venue, away from a threat. It is one of the four core procedures under Martyn's Law, alongside Invacuate, Lockdown, and Communicate.

Invacuate

Invacuate is the public protection procedure of moving people into a safer internal location when the area outside the venue is more dangerous than inside. It is the reverse of evacuation and one of the four core Martyn's Law procedures.

Lockdown

Lockdown is the public protection procedure of securing a venue by closing doors, windows, and access points to prevent a threat from moving through the building. It is one of the four core Martyn's Law procedures.

Drink spiking detection

Drink spiking detection is AI behaviour detection that identifies the hand movements and concealment patterns associated with adding a substance to an unattended drink. It alerts staff in real time, typically in under two seconds.

Exclusion zone breach

An exclusion zone breach is when a person enters a restricted area such as a crane swing zone, ATEX zone, or plant area beyond permit boundaries. AI behaviour detection flags these breaches in real time, before they become HSE-reportable incidents.

Pre-conflict aggression

Pre-conflict aggression refers to the body language and proximity patterns that precede physical violence, such as posture escalation, encroaching distance, and raised arms. AI behaviour detection identifies these patterns in the window before contact, allowing staff to intervene.

AI behaviour detection

AI behaviour detection is software that analyses video in real time to identify specific human behaviours, such as aggression, drink spiking, or crowd surge, rather than simply detecting movement. It runs on existing CCTV cameras and alerts staff before an incident escalates.

Unlike motion detection, which fires on any pixel change, behaviour detection classifies what a person is actually doing. This produces far fewer false alarms and surfaces the patterns that precede incidents.

Motion detection

Motion detection is a CCTV technique that flags when pixels in the video frame change beyond a set threshold. It triggers on any movement, including weather, animals, and lighting changes, which makes it prone to high false-alarm rates.

Motion detection was a useful advance when storage was expensive, but it has no concept of intent or context. A leaf and an intruder trigger the same alert.

Subject tracking

Subject tracking is the ability to follow a flagged individual across multiple cameras in a network using movement, location, and contextual cues. Archangel performs subject tracking without facial recognition or biometric data.

Facial recognition

Facial recognition is a biometric technology that identifies individuals by their facial features. Archangel does not use facial recognition. Subject tracking is performed using gait, clothing, and contextual cues only, with no biometric data stored, which aligns with UK GDPR and ICO guidance.