Ensuring the safety of pupils, staff and workers are of utmost importance, particularly given the current threat level in the UK, which is classified as ‘severe’. It’s important to remember that incidents are not always associated with criminal activity. A local community incident or civil disturbance can potentially jeopardise the safety of your school or workspace, and it is not limited to individuals who may pose a risk. It’s not unheard of incidents like dangerous dogs roaming loose or even an escaped bull running through an institution’s grounds. These two examples resulted in Lockdowns until local authorities could control the situation. There are also incidents like email hoaxes which recently, hundreds of schools across the country, including those in rural and semi-rural areas, have experienced. There are also potentially harmful environmental issues that should be considered. Events like nearby fires can result in smoke plumes or gas clouds, posing risks of air pollution due to chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants.

It’s important to know the difference between a Lockdown Procedure and a Lockdown System, and why it’s crucial to bring them together. A Lockdown Procedure is all about following specific actions, while a Lockdown System uses different tools and tech to improve communication and access control. The key components of a Lockdown System fall into two main categories: Communication and Access Control.

Every building has unique needs and requirements for its systems. The size of your building and your specific Lockdown Procedure will shape what you need, but there are a few common components in communication and access controls that you should have in place. We recommend that institutions consider any additional risk factors and let us conduct a site survey, with no obligation. This will give you a complete understanding of your current communication and security systems, as well as any resources that can be used as part of the system. Some assume that their fire alarm can be used to notify everyone in case of an emergency, but a fire alarm is meant for evacuation. With Lockdown Systems, you need to plan for the opposite – keeping students and staff inside. How you choose to communicate with your staff is up to you. You might prefer to email or send a text message, silently alerting only them so they can calmly communicate with the students or other employees and initiate the Lockdown Procedure. Ultimately, our Lockdown System is designed to fit your building or campus by taking into account your existing communication, security systems, and available resources. We’ll make sure to utilise everything already in place to create an effective system

Absolutely, you can start with a basic Public-Address System that allows communication across the premises. These systems are scalable, so you can gradually move towards a fully integrated communication, access control, and surveillance system. It’s important to figure out what system would work best for your premises and your plan. This way, you’ll know the maximum protection for your students, staff or employees. As communication and technology continue to advance in the future, you can review your needs and make any necessary adjustments.

Definitely. It’s important to plan ahead and communicate with staff, students and employees rather than being caught off guard in a potentially dangerous situation. The police are now teaming up with experts to develop animated videos and lesson plans that will teach about terrorism safety for the first time. When students and employees watch these videos and have these lessons, one of their initial concerns will be the environment they’re in – their own building and grounds. In schools, teachers should be ready to have conversations with children about how they should act if there’s a potentially dangerous incident at school.