Bomb or Substance Threats

The procedures used have been developed on the assumption that all threats will be treated as genuine until investigation proves otherwise. The aim of these procedures is twofold:

1. To take all practical steps to safeguard life,
2. To ensure that unnecessary actions are not taken which may put at risk the students and staff that we are attempting to safeguard.

Although in most instances the threat made will be a hoax, usually by telephone, there is always the very real possibility that it may not be. Hoax calls are generally made by a person who remains anonymous and is making such calls for personal gain and satisfaction knowing that such calls can cause major disruption and inconvenience. Faculty and Departments, together with Heads of Schools would be targets to receive such calls. The person who notifies of a real threat will generally provide much more detail, possibly including identification to ensure that the threat is taken seriously.

Procedures listed in this section are general rules but because of the potential harm to the University and it’s occupants, all threats must be taken very seriously and the procedures strictly adhered to. Built into such procedures will be the minimisation of media publicity as this type of exposure to such threats tends to increase their frequency. These emergency procedures are available in poster form in our publications section.

Bomb threats may be in one of the following forms:

1. Written threat
2. Telephone threat
3. Doubtful or Suspect Article