Non-structural mitigation
Even when a school building is safe – when it has
been designed and constructed to withstand hazards
– its interior contents can injure or even kill students
and staff. School management committees and older
students can identify these hazards and reduce risks.
• Heavy furniture can be secured to walls.
• Cleaning and laboratory chemicals can be placed in
locked cabinets or containers that hold them tight.
• Handrails can be installed along stairwells.
• Fire suppression equipment can be strategically
placed throughout the building.
• Large kitchen equipment can be bolted to floors or
walls.
• Light fixtures can be secured with wire to ceilings.
• Computer equipment can be strapped to tables or
secured on floors.
• High shelves can be installed for fragile educational
materials to be stored during flood events.
Key activity 3: Development
of a maintenance plan
In order for community-based schools to remain safe over
decades of use, a maintenance plan must be established.
Ideally, this plan should have first been discussed in the
Planning Stage and only needs to be reviewed and finalised.
Program managers should support the school management
committee in understanding how maintenance protects
and extends the safety of the school building. Government
agencies with school oversight responsibilities should provide
appropriate funding mechanisms. The school manage ment
committee should establish a maintenance plan that defines
roles and responsibilities for maintenance on a routine,
seasonal and annual basis. Those responsible for maintenance
should be trained in how to carry out their responsibilities.
Strategies for communitybased maintenance of schools
with minimal resources
While government agencies are typically responsible
for funding maintenance, allocation is often woefully
inadequate. School communities may need to develop
strategies for supplementing government allocations.
• Establish an annual ‘safe school’ day where students
and families play an active role in assessing and
repairing the school premises.
• Have older students provide ongoing monitoring as a
classroom activity.
• Use World Disaster Risk Reduction Day – on 13
October – to review school safety and address
problems.
• Use a Community Work Day – a day when people
give voluntary labour for activities that benefit the
wider community – to support school maintenance.
• Establish income-generating activities with oversight
by the school management committee and use these
funds for maintenance.
Checklists, such as this excerpt from a maintenance manual for school buildings in the Caribbean, can help staff maintain buildings and
ensure the safe school remains safe after construction.
SECTION III: POST-CONSTRUCTION
School completion ceremony of Cirateun Primary School,
Bangdung, Indonesia. Photo: Bishnu Pandey.
• High shelves can be installed for fragile educational
materials to be stored during flood events.
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