SAFETY Act Designation
Background
Following the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a number of lawsuits were filed against airports, airplane manufacturers, security companies and government entities such as the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. A Federal judge permitted those lawsuits to proceed, stating that the use of an airplane as a suicide weapon was potentially foreseeable. As a result, the potential liability costs for all providers and users of anti-terror products and services became virtually unlimited.
Congress, recognizing that such massive liability would crush the research, development and use of anti-terror technologies, passed the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act in 2002. The SAFETY Act created liability limitations for claims resulting from an act of terrorism where Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technologies (QATTs) have been deployed. The Act applies to a broad range of technologies, including products, services, and software, or combinations thereof. For more information, please visit www.safetyact.gov.
Andy Frain was initially awarded SAFETY Act Designation in 2006. We were renewed in 2011 and are currently in the process of renewal for November 2016.
Andy Frain is the only company SAFETY Act Designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide trained security professionals to screen persons and packages and to prevent the introduction of explosives and weapons (“prohibited items”) and other contraband into secured facilities and venues.
Benefits to Andy Frain’s Customers
The tort protections afforded to Andy Frain under the SAFETY Act extend to our customers that purchase our SAFETY Act Designated services. Therefore, our customers receive the following benefits:
- Presumption of dismissal from such lawsuits.
- Requirement that such lawsuits be filed exclusively in federal court.
- Elimination of punitive damages claims.
- A cap on the Liability Damages resulting from significant terrorist act.
- An assurance that the Department of Homeland Security has conducted an extensive review of Andy Frain’s security procedures and training methods and certified them as effective countermeasures against terrorist threats.
