An EN14450 Secure Cabinet Is Not A Safe

 A "Secure Cabinet" is cheaper, lighter and a lot less secure

Being more lightly constructed than a safe, Secure Cabinets are cheaper to produce and more easily transported and installed, as well as ideal for low-cost delivery by couriers. The problem for insurers and consumers alike, who may accept an EN14450 cabinet as a safe or home safe is that a "Secure Cabinet" is not even close to the burglary resistance one can expect from the lightest grade of certified safe. In European laboratories EN14450 Secure Cabinets are only tested against a range of light “hand tools”. Despite these facts the marketing of EN14450 Secure Safe Cabinets (Security level S1 and S2) as safes is still an everyday occurrence not only in Ireland and the UK but in the rest of Europe. S1 and S2 Secure Cabinets have no insurance rating in Ireland and many other countries in Europe, yet if you were to Google “Safes” today, a vast number of search results described as “Safes” will be S1 & S2 “Secure Cabinets”, many claiming ratings for cash and a jewellery as high as €50,000 overnight.

An example of marketing a cabinet as a safe

Between July 2021 and July 2022, YouTube video demonstrations of Chubb products such as the Chubb Home Safe S2 and Chubb Viper presented by CEN263 Chairman and Global Product Manager for Chubb Mark Brookes appeared. In these videos Mr Brookes repeatedly referred to these products as safes, even though as chair of CEN263 Mr Brookes is fully aware that both products are cabinets with a lower certified resistance to attack than any safe. In fact the word "cabinet" is not mentioned once throughout any of these videos while the word safe is repeatedly used to describe the units.

Europe takes action

EN14450 is the European Standard for a light secure storage unit referred to as a “Secure Cabinet”. Previous versions of the EN14450 European standard referred to this unit as a “Secure Safe Cabinet”, however, marketing of EN14450 Cabinets as “Safes” particularly “Home Safes” became so widespread that the title of the EN14450 “Secure Safe Cabinet” standard was formally changed by a Europe wide vote in 2020 the results of which were announced on the 5th of August 2021. The vote, proposed by and Ireland's National Standards Authority of Ireland expert Alan Donohoe Redd, via CEN263, succeeded in having the word “Safe” in the English language version of the standard removed to better inform and protect both consumers and insurers. Acceptance of the amendment was almost unanimous with 96.94% support including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.

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Certified Safes Ireland™ in-house advisor on keeping jewellery, watch collections, goods, cash, documents and data, safe, secure, yet readily accessible, is Alan Donohoe Redd.

Alan Donohoe Redd is an expert member of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) Working Group responsible for writing European Standards for safes, strongrooms (vaults), secure cabinets and physical data protection for the European Union and an expert for U.S. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Standards Technical Panel TC72 covering standards for fire resistance of record protection devices. Alan is also a registered NATO supplier and the longest standing member of the Frankfurt based European Security Systems Association (ESSA) in Ireland. 

Alan has a vast range of experience spanning over 40 years encompassing installation of safes, strongrooms, physical data protection, firearms security, secure storage of pharmaceuticals, security doors and equipment used for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) in government, military and I.T. sectors. He has provided advice to the U.S. Air Force (Europe), An Garda Síochána (Irish Police Service), the Danish Police, and for government projects concerned with high level cyber, physical data and counter electronic eavesdropping security.

An expert on standards and fraud issues related to secure storage in Europe, the UK, and the historical use of asbestos in UK and European safe and cabinet manufacturing, Alan has advised top UK and US law firms and has had articles on standards, fraud and safety issues published by The Law Society Gazette and Irish Broker Magazine as well as being pivotal in having misleading standards and practices recognised and withdrawn in Ireland, the UK and at a European legislative level. Alan has forced retractions of dozens of false claims related to secure storage offerings to the public including some published by the Irish Times in relation to Merrion Vaults and Lloyds of London.

Alan's seminars on safes, strongrooms and high net worth secure storage have been part of Continuing Professional Development for underwriters and insurers having been awarded CPD points by the Insurance Institute of Ireland and the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK).

 Alan's expertise has been relied on by:

N.A.T.O. Europe, The U.S. Air Force (Europe), An Garda Síochána (Irish police service), The National Treasury Management Agency (Ireland), The Department of Communications (National Cyber Security Centre) (Ireland), The Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland) The Revenue Commissioners (Ireland), Electricity Supply Board (Cyber Security) (Ireland), The Danish Defence Forces (Afghanistan), PayPal (Worldwide), Grant Thornton, The Insurance Institute of Ireland, The Chartered Insurance Institute (UK), The Royal College of Surgeons, BFC Bank, Interxion Data Centres, Isle of Man Gold Bullion, Brown Thomas, Bvlgari, Boodles, Druids Glen, The Shelbourne Hotel, and many others ....