HARDWARE & SECURITY
This involves making sure that the door
hardware (including hinges, handles,
door closers, locks and signage) is
certified, functional, regularly serviced
and maintained.
Educating staff and students on what to
look out for when checking fire doors and
how to spot any potential damage is also
important. Simply putting up fire safety
posters and guides can go a long way in
helping students avoid easy mistakes
(such as propping open fire doors)
that could otherwise have detrimental
consequences.
Integrated security
From fire detection to cloud-based
security systems, there’s a range of
innovative technologies that can be
integrated into a university campus.
Advanced security systems have a huge
number of benefits that universities
simply can’t ignore. With most
universities being designed as ‘open
environments’, where people can freely
move about, the implementation of an
integrated security system is
key, especially when aiming
to streamline the flow
of movement without
substituting security.
Today, with cloud-
based access control,
facility managers
can simply issue
and retract access
credentials meaning
entry can be allowed or
denied based on person,
access point or even time of
day. In the event that someone has
wrongly gained access to a facility,
to preserve student, staff and even
equipment safety it’s essential to have
an effective lockdown procedure in
place.
To avoid any security risks, a
lockdown strategy should be based on
two critical factors, these being security
layers and people and protocols.
Regarding layers, every campus is made
of the exterior (such
as the parking area)
and interior (like lecture
theatres), therefore the plan
must cover this. There must also
be trained people on site to make sure
protocols are followed in the event of an
emergency.
Furthermore, in the possibility of a
safe escape, appropriate digital signage,
which can switch between a number of
escape routes and guide people towards
the safest exist must be clearly seen and
understood. Not only this, there must be
a designated meeting place for students
and staff to meet in the event of a fire.
Action is key
As facility managers continue to see
the importance of both fire and security
elements, it appears more and more
educational establishements are now
integrating fire and lockdown into one
critical incident plan. It’s no doubt that the
safety of students should be a constant goal
for facility managers and security teams.
Through education, we can improve
our investments into fire safety hardware,
our understanding of effective lockdown
procedures and our integration of
increasingly holistic procedures and
infrastructures. Only then can we be
confident in our efforts to protect students.
Sources; www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/fire-crews-battle-blaze-at-bolton-student-housing-building; www.gov.uk/government/
news/government-bans-combustible-materials-on-high-rise-homes; b4ed.com/Article/1678-high-risk-buildings-still-clad-in-combustible-
materials; www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/uk-university-applications-figures-rise-brexit-ucas-eu-students-a8766631.
html; www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/uk-university-applications-figures-rise-brexit-ucas-eu-students-a8766631.
html; www.fmj.co.uk/one-in-four-uk-universities-have-received-complaints-over-fire-safety-and-evacuation-standards/; www.allegion.co.uk
MAR/APR 2020
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