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Unfortunately, schools and educational facilities have become regular targets for violence. Violent acts from troubled individuals seeking to make a statement, be defiant, or simply do harm can make school officials and students concerned about safety and security. Ranging from physical assaults to shootings, bombings, and cyber-attacks, these threats impact not just schools but entire communities. Educational institutions can prepare for and protect against these threats by proactively improving the physical security of campuses, classrooms, and associated buildings.
Scope
Now under a microscope due to continuous threats of violence, education facility safety is at the center of many school and law enforcement discussions. Violence may be targeted, random, or spontaneous. It’s difficult to determine what leads to violence since circumstances are complex and far-reaching. However, the United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (USSS NTAC) has identified potential risk factors and indicators that, although not predictive, are key warnings that someone is struggling to cope and may need help.
Potential risk factors
- Depression or suicidal ideation
- Previous discipline
- Intense anger or desire for retaliation from a grievance
- Social isolation
- Mental Illness
- Family stressors (arguing or fighting, substance abuse, incarceration, divorce, mental health issues, abuse, neglect, financial struggles)
- Poor academic performance
Key indicators
- Expressing intent to carry out a violent act or threat (verbal, written, or on social media)
- Directly threatening a target
- Planning an attack (checklists, purchasing weapons or materials, suspicious activities)
The safety and security of educational facilities are of utmost importance as educators guide and develop our youth. However, it isn’t a one-stop shop. Methods of protection will vary depending upon the types of facilities, building configurations, geographic locations, specialized services offered (laboratories, health centers, etc.), and the number of individuals that may be present at any given time. Most education facilities utilize one or more of the following security measures:
- Controlling access to buildings during school hours.
- Utilizing security cameras to monitor facilities and activities.
- Requiring the use of identification badges for faculty, staff, and students.
- Performing random sweeps of classrooms and buildings for suspicious behavior, contraband, or unusual materials, bags, or boxes.
- Requiring students to wear uniforms to make them easier to identify.
- Mandating see-through backpacks or school bags.
- Designating safe rooms or redesigning classrooms to be safe rooms.
- Installing metal detection systems.
- Implementing stricter visitor and student pick-up policies to limit non-essential people on facility grounds
- Providing more school violence and security training for faculty, staff, students, and parents.
Regulatory citations
NOTE: Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), OSHA’s authority extends to all private sector workers. The OSH Act doesn’t cover employees of state and local governments, except where the state has adopted its own workplace safety and health program subject to approval and monitoring by Federal OSHA.
- 29 USC 654 — Duties of employers and employees (including Pub. L. 91–596 “OSH Act of 1970” 5(a)(1), the “General Duty Clause”)
Key definitions
- Administrative control: A type of workplace hazard control that uses procedures, policies, supervision, scheduling, and training as a means of protecting workers.
- Engineering control: A type of workplace hazard control that places barriers between the worker and the potential threat, such as safe rooms or barricades.
- Targeting violence: Violence with an undefinable motivation that is aimed at a particular person or group of persons to inflict mass injury or death.
- Threat assessment: A process used to identify and assess the credibility, probability, and seriousness of a potential threat of violence.
Summary of requirements
OSHA requires employers to assess real and potential hazards in the workplace, which includes educational workers. To protecting these workers and the students they’re teaching, employers should:
- Recruit and develop a threat assessment team to perform a thorough review to identify concerns of educators and students, assess risk of violence, and identify strategies to combat risks.
- Ensure educational facilities have the support and resources to isolate and respond to acts or threats of violence. This may include onboarding security or campus police officers.
- Establish and communicate a comprehensive facility and security violence preparedness plan. The plan should include procedures for assessing potentially dangerous behaviors, communicating threat concerns, recognizing warning signs (access to weapons, environmental stressors, depression or despair, history of violence or discipline, etc.), identifying sources of information, documenting incidents or threats, and emergency or law enforcement notification procedures.
- Develop and provide training for an anonymous and central reporting system that would facilitate emergency notifications across multiple educational facilities and forums.
- Confirm proper engineering controls are in place for door, window, and classroom securement. Ensure safe rooms or other places of refuge are clean, well-ventilated, and stocked with updated emergency supplies.
- Implement administrative controls to protect educational workers and students such as posting emergency maps and procedures, specific procedures for helping troubled youth, protocols for when to enlist professional assistance, and parental involvement requirements.
- Encourage “see something, say something” mindsets to help alert of dangerous behaviors, physical or verbal threats, social media threats, and so forth.
- Coordinate drills to test emergency response to potentially violent situations.
- Establish, communicate, and enforce clear disciplinary measures for violent, harmful, threatening, or otherwise unacceptable behaviors that may lead to an incident if not managed.
- Administer an ongoing prevention and awareness program for employees and students. Providing an annual security report, as well as educational programs for employees and students, is a great way to keep educational facility safety in the forefront.
- Educate workers on types of potential incidents and how to respond, as well as policies for reporting and responding to dating or domestic violence, stalking, sexual assaults, theft, and other crimes.
- Utilize state and local law enforcement and other security resources to gain insight for recognizing and mitigating violent situations. Build collaborative relationships with them and invite them to join workplace training.