FIRE SAFETY & DISASTER RECOVERY LIVE AND LEARN
Malcolm Crummey, Sales Manager UK & Ireland at TOA Corporation UK, explains why FMs need to be aware of the importance of school lockdown procedures and why an integrated alarm and communication system can make children safer.
The word lockdown might appear to be a dramatic ‘Americanism’ that is usually associated with riots in prisons, but it is now being used to refer to situations where invacuation is more appropriate than evacuation as a means of preventing people moving into danger areas.
Schools and other educational establishments are not immune to events that could require such a measure to be taken and a terrorist incident, a traffic accident, an intruder, air pollution, a nearby fire, or even a dangerous animal roaming around outside are just a few of the situations that could necessitate a lockdown.
“Communication technology is at
the heart of issuing clear information that can keep people safe.”
Growing concern Reports of educational establishments in the UK that have had to resort to this procedure are now commonplace and in June 2017 three unrelated incidents caused three separate schools in the West Midlands to go into lockdown within 24 hours – one of which involved a gunman shooting at a cyclist who fled into a premises.
Meanwhile, in March this year a number of schools in London, Durham, Cambridgeshire, Devon, Cornwall, the West Midlands and Northumbria received threatening emails warning that children were to be mown down by a car at a specific time. Although the emails were treated as a hoax many of the schools kept pupils inside as a precaution.
Although such incidents are the stuff of nightmares for parents, schools now realise that they need a coherent strategy for lockdown procedures. Surprisingly, there is no statutory requirement to have a lockdown policy or procedure, and schools can simply choose to have one if they feel that it would help them to manage risks.
There are growing calls for this to be addressed, with the Department for Education’s (DfE) advice that all schools should have their own emergency plans, ‘which they can develop with the help of local police forces and their local authority’ considered highly unsatisfactory.
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has been vocal in its call for more specific government guidance and Chris Keates, its General Secretary, recently commented: “The safety of children and staff in schools should be a key priority for the government. Their health and wellbeing cannot
be left to ad hoc arrangements. The government needs a coherent national strategy on lockdown procedures.”
Take note This is a far cry from the situation in many countries such as Germany, for example, where the DIN VDE V 0827 standard for emergency and danger response systems was implemented in July 2016, with the objective of providing technical assistance for emergencies and dangerous situations. Requirements are now in place governing the technical systems that trigger alarms in dangerous situations, call for help, warn those involved or issue audible instructions. It means that the organisational concept can be supported by technology appropriate to the lockdown objective.
Currently, the best advice offered regarding the development of lockdown procedures in the UK comes from the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO). Its Guidance Note 1/2015 Developing Dynamic Lockdown Procedures provides information to develop procedures to lockdown sites in response to a fast moving incident.
However, due to the differences between the types of sites, NaCTSO claims it is not possible to give prescriptive advice, but details planning considerations applicable to most sites. As well as providing guidance regarding planning, reviewing, identifying staff roles and responsibilities, staff training and ensuring flexibility with process to cover both evacuation and invacuation, it also suggests that in certain circumstances the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s ‘run, hide, tell’ policy should be taught.
“There is no statutory requirement to have a lockdown policy or procedure.”
Though not directly referencing schools, NaCTSO’s Crowded Places Guidance, which was published in June 2017, offers advice to those who are responsible for the security of higher and further education institutions, irrespective of size and location. One element of the guidance that should be of particular interest to facilities managers is its comment that ‘Public address (PA) systems, if available, provide more flexibility to provide information and instructions appropriate to the scenario and to provide positive confirmation to staff and visitors that the emergency is real, thereby reducing delay in response’.
24 | TOMORROW’S FM
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