Tactical Site Surveys – A Proven Way To Improve Any Faciltiy ~ Michael Dorn and Chris Dorn

TACTICAL SITE SURVEYS –

A Proven Way To Improve Any Facility

Tby Michael Dorn & Chris Dorn The tactical site survey process can antiterrorism efforts, cuts long -term mainimprove the work environment while also tenance costs and minimizes civil liability. enhancing the teaching and learning condi- In recent years, thousands of school and tions for schools. The process also helps to public safety officials across the United reduce crime and violence, enhances States have learned how to coordinate their own tactical site surveys. In this feature article, Michael and Chris Dorn will show how safety officials have saved their organizations millions while reducing risk and most assuredly saving lives. Every school should be evaluated by a properly coordinated tactical site survey team at least once each year. More comprehensive than a fire inspection, crime prevention through environmental design assessment or simple security audit, the tactical site survey is a mulThis woodshop teacher’s office window was designed so the staff tidisciplinary hazard member could supervise students. Students in this particular wood- and vulnerability assessshop have cut off fingers on three occasions. At least two of those ment of the facility ashave resulted in litigation. In addition, the teacher is leaving himself vulnerable for allegations of sexual misconduct by students. School staff who molest children frequently block windows in this manner to well as the grounds, parking areas and even create privacy with students. the surrounding neighFinding ways to connect students to their school helps to reduce vandalism and crime. The staff at East High School in Green Bay Wisconsin has gone to the trouble of creating motivational posters featuring staff and students to connect the people to the place. Last year, a student came forward and reported that other students were planning an attack at the school. The attack which was deemed “imminent” did not occur because the staff made this student feel comfortable reporting the incident.

borhood. This proactive process is designed to find and correct common haz-

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This school placed flags in the lunch room to make students from other countries feel a part of the school. Simple yet effective approaches can produce powerful results.

The leadership tam at Chashman Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada has dramatically improved test scores while reducing disciplinary problems by improving supervision of students and by having students create murals like this one. The school serves a large number of students who do not speak English and are not likely to complete the school year before moving to another region.

ards that typically result in safety incidents when they are not detected. The tactical site survey is also a crisis preplanning activity where critical information about the facility is noted and recorded for use by public safety officials. Most importantly, the tactical site survey is one of the best ways to improve school climate and enhance the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn. This process can help turn good schools into great ones.

Traditionally, many schools have relied upon fire inspection personnel to conduct fire prevention inspections and security consultants to coordinate security or safety “audits” of their facilities. While fire service professionals can be very helpful in finding fire hazards and a qualified safety consultant can often pinpoint vulnerabilities relating to security issues, these approaches are one dimensional and are not as valuable as the comprehensive all hazards assessment approach of the tactical site survey combined with the annual fire inspection by fire service professionals.

Just last year, our non profit center was brought in to do training for a school system that had paid a security consultant $20,000 per school to conduct security audits. In addition to being dissatisfied with the end result, the client was not able to internalize the expertise to reap long term benefits from the process by building the internal culture of safety at the school. For far less than the cost of a single security audit, the client developed an internal team with the expertise needed to coordinate tactical site surveys year after year for no additional charge. By utilizing local experts such as fire, law enforcement, public health and emergency management officials to assist in their annual tactical site surveys, school systems can dramatically impact the level of safety and emergency preparedness in their schools.

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Is school staff stockpiling enough lumber to build a house behind the stage in one of your schools? More than 90 staff and students died in an elementary school fire in an American Catholic school that was also a deathtrap. The tactical site survey process is designed to change attitudes, not just find safety hazards.

As a non-profit safety center, we urge our clients to coordinate their own tactical site surveys for another important reason. When a truly qualified consultant or firm is hired to coordinate tactical site surveys, they will indeed find numerous safety, security and emergency management issues that must be addressed. By involving staff in the tactical site survey process, a lasting change in the way people view their workplace can be achieved. By internalizing the tactical site survey process and moving beyond the rudimentary security audit approach, lasting, positive and significant cultural change can occur.

Time management issue

Aschool administrator does not have the time to avoid this process each year. Tragic yet preventable situations occur every year in schools where the tactical site survey process does not occur regularly. The recent tragedy at a Toronto area Montessori school and the murder of a young boy in a Dutch school by an intruder along with two total loss school fires in the United States this year are a snapshot of the types of incidents that can usually be avoided through this invaluable yet relatively simple process. These situations often create a massive drain on human and fiscal resources and even more tragically, often involve death or serious injury to victims. The administrative time spent on a single safety incident can be greater than the time spent coordinating annual tactical site surveys for decades.

Does the school have real access control or just a façade of it? Ayoung girl was raped this year by a trespasser at a Toronto Montessori school where access control was not effective. The little girl will pay for their carelessness for the rest of her life. Leaving visitor badges on a counter with a sign up sheet is a sign of a school that does not understand its vulnerability

Numerous facilities directors who have participated in training sessions have commented that while the process initially generates an increase in maintenance requests, the improvements in supervision and security in their schools significantly reduces vandalism and the maintenance work that would have otherwise been required.

Good business practices

From a fiscal management and business continuity standpoint, it can be reckless for an organization not to conduct annual tactical site surveys. In one of the school fires mentioned earlier, the school was under-insured by $15 million USD and the community is struggling to find funding to replace the school. Helping those with fiscal responsibility grasp the magnitude of certain types of safety incidents can help them understand the need to devote time and budget to safety. Pan

This audiovisual cart holding more than 50 kilos of materials is located in a Catholic elementary school boiler room and presents an incredibly dangerous situation. Hazards like this one will continue to kill and injure in schools where a tactical site survey is not conducted at least once a year.

Am, at one time the world’s largest commercial airline, ceased to exist because of a single safety incident. It is simply bad business to skip the annual tactical site survey process.

Team memberselection

The tactical site survey process is powerful, yet relatively simple in concept. A group of individuals from a variety of disciplines is brought together to conduct the assessments from a multidisciplinary viewpoint. Ideally, area law enforcement, fire, emergency management, public health, risk management and insurance personnel are brought in to assist internal personnel such as facilities, environmental health and safety, security, school resource officers and administrators to assist.

Typically, the individual coordinating the tactical site survey will not be able to obtain team members from all of these

Most hazards identified through the tactical site survey can be easily corrected. Many, like this unlocked gate surrounding a water retention pond at an elementary school can cause serious injury or even death if they are not found.

disciplines for the tactical site survey, so the rule of thumb is to obtain the assistance of as many of the different individuals as possible. Four people will spot more hazards than one person and a six person team will spot more things than a team of four. When an experienced consultant works a team through several buildings after a proper training program, the team can pick up a great deal of the consultant’s knowledge rather quickly. We have trained hundreds of safety professionals in this process and routinely hear feedback that they learned a great deal from this group process even when they had conducted safety audits for many years.

Finding people who are dedicated, focused on the safety of the people they serve, and who above all else are team players is one of the most important aspects of the tactical site survey process. By bringing the experts of different disci-

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Though violence is not a leading cause of death in U.S. schools, it makes little sense for a teacher in an elementary school to leave large knives lying within reach of students. This one was found during a site survey at a very expensive college preparatory school.

plines together, a considerable amount of information can be obtained. For example, the fire official can not only point out fire code violations, but also obtain future compliance voluntarily by explaining in person to those who actually work in the building why the violation is dangerous. By bringing the various disciplines in the facility together, conflicts in professional viewpoints can be ironed out. For example, fire officials will suggest that

The tactical site survey can quickly help spot evidence that supervision is poor in particular areas of a school. This is but one of dozens of the physical indicators that this gymnasium is poorly supervised. This is a clear indication of a very dangerous area where safety incidents are bound to occur.

Knox Boxes (which provide ready access to master keys during a crisis) be placed adjacent to main doors, but law enforcement officers will suggest they be located away from glass doors and windows that might expose approaching officers to a gunman in the school. Once fire officials see the viewpoints of officers, they typically agree to the alternative placement. By bringing the different disciplines together, these types of problems can be easily avoided.

Tactical Site Survey Checklist

The tactical site survey checklist is simply a guide to help coordinate the tactical site survey process. Most of the severe safety concerns we have found in buildings do not appear on anyone’s site survey checklist. While the checklist is a valuable tool to help guide the process and record findings, there is a tendency for people to get too focused on the checklist and miss obvious safety hazards. Members of the tactical site survey team should use a checklist but ensure they are focused on what they are seeing more than on filling out forms. For a free twenty page tactical site survey checklist, visit www.safehavensinternational.org and click on the Free Resources section.

Conclusion

The tactical site survey process is an indispensable tool that can dramatically reduce the risk of death, injury, damage to property and disruption of services. Many schools are now internalizing the capacity to coordinate their own tactical site surveys to save money, increase efficiency and to maximize the benefits of the process.

Michael Dorn serves as the Executive Director for Safe Havens International Inc., the world’s foremost international non profit campus safety center. Chris Dorn has authored and co-authored four books on campus safety and has worked in more than 25 states and five countries. Safe Havens analysts have trained more than 1,300 tactical site survey instructors and have work experience in more than twenty countries. The Dorns have authored and co-authored more than 20 books on school safety and their training videos are in use across the globe. Michael and Chris can be reached via the Safe Havens web site at www.safehavensinternational.org