The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently released a new standard – NFPA 3000 – which sets guidelines for Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER).  According to the NFPA 3000 Fact Sheet:

The purpose of NFPA 3000 (PS) is to identify the minimum program elements needed to organize, manage, and sustain an active shooter and/or hostile event response program and to reduce or eliminate the risks, effect, and impact on an organization or community affected by these events.  The document addresses the following areas and others:

Planning
• Assessing risks
• Developing community-wide programs
Responding
•  Establishing competencies
•  Communicating to all stakeholders
Recovering
• Planning recovery efforts
• Taking into account healthcare and mental health issues

NFPA 3000’s Chapter 9 – Facility Preparedness, addresses requirements for facilities that may be at risk of an ASHER incident.  In addition to staff procedures, notification of building occupants, periodic drills, and adequate supplies for first-aid response, the chapter covers emergency action plans for evacuation, relocation, and secure-in-place procedures.

There are several key points in this chapter that relate to physical security and lockdown:

  • Emergency action plans must include the location and identification of lockable spaces as well as exit doors leading to the exterior.  Doors in the means of egress must meet all of the requirements of NFPA 101 – The Life Safety Code.
  • Plans must include procedures to lock designated doors from within the spaces, and must meet the requirements of NFPA 101 with regard to locking/unlocking and unlatching.  This includes the ability to unlatch the door from the egress side with one releasing operation, and without a key, tool, special knowledge, or effort.  The releasing mechanism for unlocking and unlatching the door must be located between 34 inches and 48 inches above the finished floor.
  • Where required by NFPA 101, doors must be lockable from the inside without opening the door, and unlockable from the outside with the necessary key or other credential.

These requirements help to ensure that the secured doors provide for unimpeded egress, allow authorized access, and do not create barriers for people with disabilities.

Has your jurisdiction adopted NFPA 3000?

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Learn more about NFPA 3000:

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