For many organisations, the question is no longer whether an emergency plan exists somewhere in a folder, but whether staff, systems and occupants would know what to do when a fast-moving incident unfolds. That is a harder test. Procedures need to be understood. Signals need to be clear. People need to know when to act, and how.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, is intended to improve organisational preparedness and protective security across the UK. The Home Office statutory guidance explains that the Act requires those responsible for certain premises and events to prepare for potential terrorist attacks and help keep people safe in the event of an attack. For larger premises and events, there is also a requirement to consider vulnerability to terrorism and, where appropriate, take reasonably practicable steps to reduce those vulnerabilities.
For the fire, safety and security sector, the implications are practical rather than theoretical. Lockdown, invacuation and mass notification are moving from specialist conversations into wider public protection planning.
It also raises a question every installer, specifier, integrator and responsible person will recognise: when a procedure has to begin, what is the first physical action?
The scale of the challenge
Home Office modelling has estimated that around 179,000 UK sites will fall within scope of Martyn’s Law, including approximately 154,600 standard tier premises and 24,300 enhanced tier premises. For the supply chain supporting fire, safety and security systems, that points to a significant preparedness challenge across a wide mix of buildings and public spaces.
The thresholds are now clearer. ProtectUK states that standard tier applies where it is reasonable to expect between 200 and 799 individuals to be present on the premises at the same time, from time to time. Responsible persons for standard tier premises must notify the Security Industry Authority and ensure appropriate public protection procedures are in place, so far as reasonably practicable.
Enhanced tier applies to larger premises that can reasonably expect 800 or more individuals to be present at the same time, from time to time, and to qualifying events where 800 or more individuals may be present at the same time at any point. Enhanced tier premises and qualifying events must meet the same public protection procedure requirements as standard tier, with additional requirements around public protection measures, documentation and senior responsibility.
The affected sectors are broad. Shops, hospitality, entertainment and leisure venues, sports grounds, libraries, museums, halls, visitor attractions, hotels, places of worship, healthcare, transport, childcare, education and public authority buildings all appear within the Schedule 1 uses identified in the statutory guidance.
Some premises will sit below the standard tier threshold. That should not be confused with having no reason to think about preparedness. A smaller school building, GP surgery, nursery, place of worship or community venue may still decide to review lockdown or invacuation procedures as part of safeguarding, duty of care, estate planning or business continuity. For these sites, the starting point is usually procedural: who makes the decision, how staff are informed, where people move and how communication continues. Where a physical activation point or local alerting device is chosen to support that procedure, it needs the same clarity and protection as any larger system.
The Act sets the statutory framework. Good preparedness still has to be worked through on the ground.
From fire evacuation to multi-hazard response
Fire safety has long had a familiar rhythm: detect, alert, evacuate. Lockdown changes that rhythm.
There are scenarios where moving people out of a building may not be the safest response. A threat outside the premises, a violent incident nearby, an intruder, a hostile act, a chemical release or another fast-moving hazard can all require a different decision. In those circumstances, the safer response may be to keep people in, move them away from danger within the site, restrict movement, secure entrances, or communicate instructions quickly to different groups.
This is where invacuation and lockdown enter the life-safety conversation.
The Fire Industry Association’s guidance on the use of fire alarm systems for lockdown, specifically in schools, explains that invacuation is the need to stay in or return to a building for safety. It describes immediate lockdown as the most demanding form, preventing circulation within, egress from or access to the building, and notes that an invacuation alarm is generally short term or momentary to prevent panic and allow further communication.
At European level, Euralarm has also published guidance on using Fire Detection and Alarm systems for lockdown. As a member of Euralarm, STI contributed to this work alongside other member organisations, helping explore how existing FD&A infrastructure can support evacuation, invacuation and lockdown for non-fire threats. Euralarm describes the guidance as covering scenarios such as intruders, violent incidents, flooding and nearby external hazards, with emphasis on European practice, standards and regulatory contexts.
The guidance reflects where the sector is heading. Lockdown is not being viewed in isolation, or as a single product category. It sits within a broader move towards multi-hazard safety planning, where fire, security and emergency communication systems need to be coordinated rather than confused.
The FIA guidance makes the same point in practical terms. Where a building contains alarm systems associated with hazards other than fire, the various hazard alarms need to be properly coordinated and distinct from each other. Priorities must be assessed so a higher priority alarm is not prevented or obscured by a lower priority one.
In practice, people must understand what the signal means.
The first action matters
Before a lockdown message is sent, before doors are secured, before occupants move or remain in place, before a control room verifies what is happening, someone has to initiate the response.
That person may be a receptionist, teacher, security officer, facilities manager, steward, member of clinical staff or trained employee. It may happen at a front desk, in a corridor, at a staff entrance, in a public concourse or in a back-of-house area. In a real incident, that person is unlikely to be calm, and the environment around them may already be confusing.
This is why the activation point deserves attention.
It has to be recognisable enough that the right person can act quickly. It has to be deliberate enough that activation is not casual or accidental. It has to be protected from misuse, damage and tampering. If it is connected to a wider system, that connection has to be dependable.
This is the part of the lockdown ecosystem where STI has a clear and practical role. Not as a replacement for risk assessment, staff training or a lockdown procedure, but as the specialist in the physical point where a person interacts with the system.
In a school reception area, for example, this could mean a clearly marked blue activation device available to trained staff, protected against casual operation but accessible when seconds matter. In a healthcare setting, the same principle may point towards quieter activation and protected non-sounder covers, where drawing attention to the activation point could be undesirable.
For some sites, it might be a blue manual call point with lockdown-specific text. For others, it may be a key switch used by authorised staff, a push button inside a protective cover, or a G3 Multipurpose Push Button connected into a wider mass notification platform.
If the first action is unclear, everything that follows becomes harder.
False lockdown activation is a different kind of risk
False fire alarms have taught the industry a great deal. Repeated unwanted alarms disrupt businesses, schools, healthcare environments and public services. Over time, they can also erode confidence. People hear the alarm and assume it is another false call. The danger is complacency.
Lockdown brings a different behavioural risk.
In the early stages of adoption, a false lockdown activation may not be ignored. It may do the opposite. It could create immediate fear, confusion or panic, particularly in schools, hospitals, places of worship or crowded public venues. A false fire alarm often damages confidence over time; a false lockdown signal could cause an intense response straight away.
This does not weaken the case for lockdown planning. It strengthens the case for getting the details right.
Device location, staff training, signage, reset method, cover choice, alert tone, visual indication and escalation all need to be considered together. An activation point should be easy to use when genuinely needed, but not so exposed that it invites accidental or malicious operation.
This is familiar territory for STI. In 1978, Jack Taylor developed the original Stopper® in response to a Detroit school’s false alarm problem. The principle was simple: protect the alarm without preventing legitimate emergency use. More than four decades later, that same thinking applies to a new generation of lockdown activation devices.
Where STI fits: activate, protect, integrate
STI manufactures a range of blue activation devices for lockdown applications, including manual call points, push buttons, key switches and lockdown stations with lockdown-specific text or markings. Blue is not mandated by Martyn’s Law, and there is no single universal lockdown marking. Even so, blue has increasingly become the industry convention for distinguishing lockdown activation from red fire activation and green evacuation or emergency-release devices.
That colour distinction can help. So can clear text. But neither replaces procedure or training. The value comes when the device matches the site’s intended response: who is allowed to activate it, where it is positioned, whether it should be reset by key, whether a local cover alarm is desirable, and how the activation links to the rest of the system.
The G3 Multipurpose Push Button is a useful example of this more flexible approach. It combines robust physical activation with configuration options including Momentary, Key-to-Reset and Turn-to-Reset operation, and can be supplied in different colours with customisable text for site-specific protocols.
The optional built-in IP camera gives the activation point an added layer of context where monitoring, accountability and evidence capture are important. Positioned at the point of activation, the camera is designed to capture face-on footage before, during and after use. In a lockdown or mass notification application, that can help security and facilities teams understand who activated the device, what was happening around it, and whether the activation was genuine, accidental or malicious.
Protection is the second part of the equation. STI’s Stopper® range can be applied across a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activation devices, from compact covers for standard call points to environmental models for more demanding locations. Blue hood options and lockdown-specific markings allow the same protective principle to be carried into lockdown applications, while sounder and non-sounder models give designers choice depending on whether they want a local deterrent or a quieter, more discreet method of protection.
The fire sector already understands the value of that approach. BS 5839-1:2025 reaffirmed the recommendation that all manual call points should be fitted with transparent protective covers, and Home Office research has linked the long-term decline in false fire alarms caused by malicious or accidental manual call point activation to the introduction of protective covers.
The lesson for lockdown is not that fire and security procedures are the same. They are not. The lesson is that critical activation points are vulnerable, and simple protective measures can help maintain confidence in the signal.
Supporting OEMs, installers and system partners
Lockdown will not be delivered in one way.
Some sites will use dedicated lockdown systems. Some will look at existing fire alarm infrastructure, where appropriate. Others will use mass notification, access control, public address, security management platforms or a combination of technologies. In all cases, the physical point of activation still has to sit somewhere within the design.
For many years, STI manual call points have been used by OEMs and fire panel manufacturers as the activation point within established fire alarm platforms. As lockdown systems develop, blue lockdown call points, push buttons and key switches can play a similar role, providing the recognisable interface between people, procedures and the wider system.
The G3 extends this further, with options that can support Modbus TCP, IP connectivity, PoE and mass notification applications. For OEMs and system integrators, this helps bridge the gap between a physical activation device and the digital systems that coordinate a response.
There is also a manufacturing point here that matters to customers. In February 2025, STI installed three Engel Victory injection moulding machines at its Taylor House facility in Bromsgrove as part of a major nearshoring programme. The investment gives the company greater control over the production of key polycarbonate components, supporting quality control, lead times and responsiveness for standard, customised and lockdown-specific variants.
In December 2025, STI’s UK manufacturing capability was recognised with Made in Britain approval. For customers, distributors and OEM partners, the benefit is practical rather than symbolic: stronger control, shorter lead times, improved supply confidence and a faster response when projects need reliable availability or custom markings.
The alerting layer should not be overlooked. Where a risk assessment and system design call for local lockdown alerting, STI’s blue Select-Alert Siren/Strobe can support audible and visual signalling. Selectable tones, flash patterns and sounder-only or strobe-only control can help differentiate lockdown alerts from other site warnings, provided the wider system is designed and coordinated correctly.
Physical protection may be just as important for alerting devices as it is for activation points. In a hostile incident, visible sounders, beacons or sirens could be damaged, misused or deliberately interfered with. Beacon and sounder cages help protect these devices so audible and visual alerts remain available when needed.
Preparedness starts before the first signal
Martyn’s Law will not be delivered by products alone. It will require risk assessment, planning, training, communication and review. It will also require responsible persons to understand their premises, their occupants and the procedures most appropriate to their circumstances.
But when a lockdown procedure depends on a physical point of activation, the details matter.
A device that is unclear can delay action. A device that is unprotected can invite misuse. A signal that is confused with another warning can undermine the response. A system that does not connect properly to the wider procedure can leave staff and occupants waiting for instructions when time is critical.
As organisations prepare for the next phase of public protection planning, STI’s role is to support that first practical step. Through blue activation devices, Stopper® protective covers, sirens and strobes, beacon and sounder cages, OEM-ready call points and integration-ready support, STI helps protect the things that protect you.
