Security at airports

[tribekey]

I think i could agree with some of the ridiculous measures in place if they worked however on my arrival at work:
1)get out of car, have anything i am carrying scanned, sometimes have shoes removed,body search etc
2)have pass scanned
3)get back in car(which has received a brief lookover by a security person) and drive across to atc building (with anything i've hidden in the vehicle,including lunch,liquids etc)
4)have access airside and in building to;petrol,knives,cars,r/t etc!

I ask where is the security? it seems to me the security is knowing that i am a long standing member of staff,in which case don't search my bloody lunch.
More importantly, who is checking the security staff , some of the most transient workers in aviation?

The only thing that it is achieving is causing stress to employees.

[onion]

Tribekey about your lunch was it scanned by x-rayed? Just I know that at mme staff had their lunch x-rayed and this was before the new rules. Just I think there might be health risks with having food x-rayed every time they go to work.

[BRISTOLRE]

X-rays

Just what are the x-rays supposed to be detecting? Arent X-Rays showing metallic items. How can x-rays detect explosive materials?

[tribekey]

yes, lunch etc gets put through ,what i believe is an x-ray machine whilst personnel walk through arch detector. Personally, i'm not aware of any great risk,the doses of radiation received are much less than getting on an aircraft and flying high level and the fat/salt etc in my lunch will probably get me before anything else! There is a question ,of course, should anyone be forced to receive any axtra exposure to radiation? the main point is why trust someone 'a little bit';either scan/search properly or don't bother.

[lplsprog]

X-rays detect not only metal items but explosives i.e. C4 which are organic and show up orange. As your butties are organic they show orange as well so they have to be careful your not smuggling butty sized pieces of explosives!

[Evileyes]

Facts and FAQs regarding X-rays:

http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/comp/cabinetxrayfaq.html

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com...117044,00.html

[ATCO1987]

Noisy, you're probably lucky Im probably the only member of security staff at our airport that reads PPRuNe! Otherwise your discovery would probably get stripped down! But I'll keep my mouth shut for a small fee,

As for XRay screening; it doesnt "detect" anything, just gives us an Xray image of the bag/item in the tunnel. Organic material is orange, inorganic material (such as metal) is blue, and a mix of the two is green. The AMD (Archway metal detector) is whats hunting for metal of course.

[asianfly]

I recently flew from Chicago (ORD) to San Francisco on AA. I got to the hotel only to discover that my bags had been relieved of some new computer software and games I had bought. Obviously, I don't know whether it was the TSA or the baggage handlers who had the sticky fingers, but obviously my faith in the entire security system is somewhat compromised. Normally, my bags get checked by TSA and they kindly leave a note saying as much (and breaking the TSA approved locks in the process).
Viva airport security!