Report: “Building Safety and Security Workshop”
Date of issue: May 2018
NFPA hosted a Building Safety & Security Workshop, May 10-11, 2018, in response to questions that have continued to come up in the aftermath of deadly shootings at a range of occupancies.
Targeted violence incidents are happening more frequently in the U.S., with seemingly no occupancy type or venue immune from such threats. In the last six years alone, targeted violence events have unfolded in schools, office buildings, a movie theater, a retail establishment and an outdoor concert venue. NFPA’s proactive approach to addressing targeted violence governs a wide variety of standards and protocols, including building design and configuration; coordination by first responder agencies; and internal planning that can help building occupants respond to these situations.
School security
In December 2014, NFPA held a School Safety, Codes and Security workshop, which addressed the need to balance fire safety against security safety in response to a number of active shooter and hostile events that had occurred in recent years. While many of the recommendations from that report have been integrated into several NFPA codes and standards, the multiple deadly incidents that have taken place since then underscore the fact that there’s still much more work to be done.
Following up on the 2014 workshop’s initial recommendations, NFPA hosted a two-day Building Safety and Security workshop in May 2018 with the goal of expanding the discussion to include all types of buildings and venues, and to identify other solutions that can be applied to targeted violence events. The report details the discussions, ideas, and recommendations generated by the invited participants who attended the workshop, which featured a diverse range of professionals from industries, groups and organizations directly and indirectly impacted by active shooter and hostile events.
From NFPA Journal®
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Safe door locking options aren’t just for educational occupancies, May/June 2018
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Classroom door locking against unwanted entry, January/February 2017
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Security Balance - Why security safety in public places needs to be synonymous with life safety, September/October 2016
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The New War at Home - The many ways NFPA is addressing emerging threats of violence, May/June 2016
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What Price Security? Shaken by acts of violence, schools are implementing new measures to keep shooters and other intruders out., September/October 2015
- Cross Purposes - Why some measures designed to address school shootings may adversely affect fire safety, March/April 2015