Anti climb spikes have a role as part of effective perimeter security – but the law means you must be careful that they don’t injure anyone, including intruders. Fire and Safety Centre explains how to protect property and stay within the law.
Link to Mclassic Metal
When I was a child, broken glass was the preferred method of intruder deterrent on top of walls around industrial premises. Yards and yards of shards were set into concrete, jagged edges uppermost, to put off anyone thinking of climbing over.
At the time I could never understand why; those bottles had a value, taken back to the shop for the return of a deposit of a few pennies. What I overlooked, of course, was the value of the assets being protected inside, which far outstripped the few coppers the glass was worth.
Today the value of assets to be protected has soared, making stronger perimeter security even more important. However, legislation has grown stronger too, giving the owner or operator of the land a duty of care to people on the premises. That’s why we see no broken glass, but more fence spikes and similar anti climb products.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act started it all, and covered visitors with a legitimate reason to be there. No-one has ever been charged with an offence under it, because it’s not a criminal law – but anyone injured could use it as a basis to sue you.
Intruders came into the picture with an updated version of the same law enacted in , specifically covering personal injury to trespassers. It extended the duty of care to protect everyone, including thieves, who might come into contact with a hazard – and that includes fence spikes or similar security on top of your perimeter wall as part of a security armoury for your premises.
But the same law also says that duty has been discharged if you’ve warned people that the hazard exists, and that they can see it. Therefore, anti climb spikes on top of the wall are allowed, so long as you’ve added a notice saying something like:
‘Caution: danger of injury from fence spikes’.
And that makes perfect sense; you’re not trying to injury anyone, just to stop them from climbing your wall, so fence spikes and a sign are a more effective deterrent than fence spikes alone.
An example of what wouldn’t be allowed is carpet gripper strips fastened to the inside of the wall just where someone might put their fingers to climb over.
A Stegastrip has a clever design feature and is made of strong polypropylene giving a commanding presence. Fastened rigidly to the top of a wall or fence, their spikes will cause discomfort to anyone climbing over them. Fastened back to back in pairs and fitted to a Stegastrip post, they’re not only painful to climb, but rotate as well, making climbing all but impossible.
Click to buy Stegastrips
A Prikka Strip is less conspicuous, but no less effective. Again made from polypropylene, they’re designed to cause as much discomfort as possible without physical injury. Offered in a range of colours they can be fitted to any kind of perimeter wall or fence, and there’s even a slightly wider design variant to fit neatly on top of a brick wall.
Click to buy Prikka-Strips
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Residential Anti Climb Wall Spikes.
Also worth considering when protecting your perimeter is the Highways Act , within which Section 164 talks about ‘injurious toppings’, and keeping innocent passers by safe from them. The list covers:
• Barbed wire
• Razor wire
• Broken glass
• Branded security products
• Nails
• Brackets
– but it excludes prickly shrubs, which can have the same effect, but are not mentioned in the law.
If any of these present a hazard and are less than 2.4 metres from the ground, a local authority can order their removal.
A question that’s often asked about anti climb wall and fence spikes is - do they work? Anti climb spikes have two primary functions: They need to both deter any would-be intruder and present a physical barrier to prevent intruders from gaining access to a property.
Intruders may be criminals who want to access a property to commit crime, such as burglary. They may also be vandals who want to cause mischief and damage or they may be people who want to use facilities (such as swimming pools) while property owners are away. Government and military properties might be targeted by criminals or event terrorists with political intentions.
But its important to note that potential property intruders may also be animals such as family pets (cats and dogs) as well as wild animals such as foxes.
Anti climb spikes present an immediate visual deterrent to any human intruder. But animals aren’t necessarily influenced by visual deterrents. They are more likely to climb the perimeter wall or fence and test the anti climb spikes before recognising them as a barrier they should avoid.
The visual deterrence provided by anti-climb spikes is an important factor which is known to be effective in discouraging criminals from targeting protected properties. Burglars report that when they assess property security they always avoid anywhere which has highly visible anti climb barriers in place. They know there are plenty of alternative properties where they can quickly and easily gain access to steal what they want without risk of injuring themselves or being caught in the act.
If you take a look at any high security establishment such as a military defence properties and buildings you will see what are often extremely aggressive anti climb spikes along walls and fences. The military use these devices as defence against potential terrorist intruders who might want to steal vital equipment, arms, ammunition or data. The reason the military and security services use these devices is because they work.
The anti climb spikes seen around high security establishments are often the most aggressive types of metal spikes currently available. They tend to be installed way above head height and well away from where they might cause harm to passers by. The only people who should ever come into contact with these spikes are the people who installed them and anyone foolhardy enough to try and climb over them.
Plastic anti climb spikes provide a valuable alternative often used by homeowners. These vary from anti climb plastic spikes which mimic the appearance of highly aggressive metal spikes to anti climb spike strips often used on fencing to deter animals from entering gardens.
Plastic anti climb spikes are obviously nowhere near as aggressive as some of the high security metal spikes they imitate. But they do present a significant visual deterrent and importantly they also act as a difficult barrier for intruders to overcome.
For most domestic anti climb applications its important to consider the Occupiers Liability implications. While anti climb spikes are effective in both deterring and preventing unwelcome intruders there is the potential for injury. Roller Barrier is a totally non-aggressive yet highly effective anti climb barrier which is now widely used to prevent people from climbing where they aren’t allowed. Schools, youth establishments, hospitals, police forces and local authorities are all relying on Roller Barrier to provide safe anti climb protection without risk of causing injury.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Pvc Coated Wire.