HEALTH AND SAFETY
From confusion to clarity: a new strategy for emergency communication in schools
Education Today hears from GORDON THOMAS, Business Development Manager, Global Fire Detection Products at Johnson Controls
W
hen it comes to creating a safe school environment, compromise is not an option. Architects, contractors and education facility managers must always have health and safety front-of-mind when working to ensure building systems can communicate with clarity and speed s hould an emergency occur in a school. Whether the threat is inside or outside, students and staff must be alerted as quickly as possible and
must understand clearly what actions to take. Effective emergency alert technology can help achieve this, especially systems that use a combination of visual and audio signals.
The challenge is that many schools currently use multiple systems for emergency communications, which can create problems and confusion. For example, a school might use separate systems for their fire alarms and school lockdown systems. The school lockdown system adds to maintenance overhead, and unlike a fire alarm system, there are no regulation-defined processes to ensure it is maintained and working correctly.
Other schools may use fire alarm sounders or class change bells in the event of lockdown, which can cause confusion as to what actions students and staff need to take. The lack of clarity can also
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increase response times during emergency events. And, as with school lockdown systems, there are no current regulatory standards around which systems should be used for these events. At the same time, many contractors seek the installation simplicity and streamlined compliance of a single system solution rather than relying on separate fire alarm and lockdown systems. Likewise, architects want to reduce the different types of sounders and other devices located within classrooms and corridors.
To simplify and safeguard their operations, architects, contractors and education facility managers should consider a single-system solution that can provide compliant fire detection as well as customizable lockdown alarms. Before upgrading, it is important to understand the current state of lockdown procedures and how a single-system solution offers advantages over a multi-system approach.
Current state of lockdown procedures While fire alarm systems are well regulated and evacuation procedures are familiar to most, lockdown and invacuation procedures may be less familiar: • Evacuation: Used during fire events or other emergencies that require students and staff to vacate the building, these alarms alert people to get out of the building safely.
• Lockdown: Necessary when there is an active threat on school grounds, such as a hostile force, a lockdown indicates that doors are locked and directs students to stay away from windows or conceal themselves until given a clear signal
• Invacuation lockdown: This is a type of lockdown that indicates a safety risk outside school buildings but with no threat of entry. To prevent exposure to the risk, students remain in the building until the event has cleared. An invacuation might be trigged by a pollutant, fire, or chemical release nearby.
April 2025
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