68 • SECURITYSYSTEMS
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Securing and Safeguarding
Schools for Long, Cold Nights
» » WITH WINTER FINALLY IN FULL
swing, Karen Trigg, business
development manager of Allegion UK,
discusses how to keep schools safe and
secure during the darkest season.
With the winter months comes poor
weather conditions, darker mornings
and longer nights – a far cry from the
heatwave the UK was faced with just a
few months ago.
Many think the worse is over after
Christmas, and the last thing they’ll want
to be worrying about is whether they’ve
left their school building secure. Yet,
the early part of the year still sees an
unfortunate rise in crime and burglaries,
which is understandbale when you
consider the additional protection that
the cover of darkness provides, and that
buildings may be empty if bad weather
causes temporary closures. Luckily, there
are a number of simple yet effective
measures that facility managers can take
to ensure their buildings remain safe and
secure for that extra peace of mind.
BEING PREPARED WITH A
LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE
Facility managers and other school
officials responsible have a lot to
think about in the build-up to closing
for Christmas. The reopening for
a new term is just as important. As
well as festive assemblies, Christmas
productions and so on, they also need
to be thinking about safety and security
standards and making sure they don’t
slip amidst the festive antics. This
caution must be extended into January
and February. We may have had a
mild December, but with snow and ice
forecast for 2019, the new year is just
the beginning.
One of the best ways school security
can be optimised is to make sure an
effective lockdown strategy is in place.
According to our recent survey involving
more than 250 facility managers in
the education sector, a surprising 27.1
percent said they don’t currently have a
lockdown procedure in place.
Implementing a lockdown procedure
is critical to ensuring the protection of
staff and students, as well as valuable
equipment and the building, itself. There
are many different types of lockdown
strategies, all of which wield different
benefits depending on the school’s
unique requirements.
Based on these judgements, it’s
important to consider whether a manual,
remote or centralised system is most
suitable – or a combination of the three.
Allegion is happy to discuss and advise
on individual requirements with site
visits.
MANUAL LOCKDOWN
Manual systems are the most
recognisable and tend to be most
common in schools.
Possibly the most economical and
cost-effective lockdown solution,
mechanical locks rely on an individual
having the physical key in hand to lock
down a room or space.
With two-thirds of all burglaries being
attempted through a door, there’s a
tendency to attack the cylinder lock
first. As a result, it’s a good idea to
check whether you need to upgrade the
cylinders and lockcases in your doors to
heavier-duty models.
REMOTE LOCKDOWN
For additional security, standalone
electronic and digital locks can be used to
reduce the risk of intrusion. These are ideal
solutions for schools that want to upgrade
lockdown systems but are reluctant to step
into the costs of networked systems. The
great thing is many of these locks can be
installed, up and running in as little as five
minutes and without a huge amount of
technical knowledge.
CENTRALISED
Centralised solutions can be
one of the most secure lockdown
types, requiring only a single point
of accountability. These systems
are activated through a computer or
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | JAN/FEB 2019
smartphone. By simply pushing a button,
all openings can be locked throughout
the building.
Whether the school operates on
mechanical, electronic or combination
systems, every school should have a
lockdown procedure that determines
or defines the state of each opening of
the building on demand. This applies
not only for if an emergency were to
arise, but also for securing the school
adequately when everyone goes home
at the end of the day. This is particularly
important over holidays-, when the
premises will be emptier for longer than
usual.
LOOKING AFTER DOORS
Often, dramatic changes in
temperatures and weather conditions
can cause doors to swell up or shrink
down. Swollen doors may damage or
hinder a door closer’s operation, or
even jam the doors into place making it
difficult to open or close them properly.