I read the two news stories below on the same day, which struck me as ironic. When it comes to security and safety, you can take the easy, fast, and cheap approach, or take the time to carefully consider the issues and alternatives and invest in a suitable solution...
NASFM is certainly aware of the need to protect our schools and businesses from senseless acts of violence, however we feel strongly we must carefully consider the solutions being proposed...
On a fairly regular basis, someone sends me a video clip or a link to a news story, asking, “Have you seen this classroom lockdown device?”
After a lockdown system was installed at this elementary school, a piece of pipe insulation was glued to the entrance door leading to the day care center. Why?
Following up on my earlier post about school security and safety, here's a report from Fox 4 News about a school fire that occurred just yesterday...
The graphic that will appear with this article in Doors & Hardware illustrates a potential application for existing classroom doors if the 2-operation language is approved...
With these conditions in so many schools, I don't understand why any district would take on the potential liability associated with failure to meet their duties of care...
Let's not look back on this moment in history and think, "If only we had done something..."
When a proposal was made to add a reference in Chapter 7 to the exceptions for 2 operations, the Technical Committee on Means of Egress almost unanimously opposed this change...
My husband: "Do other people cry on Wednesdays or is it just you?"
I need your help. The topic of today's post could affect life safety for decades, and I hope you will read it and leave some feedback...
From the moment a gunman began shooting 10 girls in an Amish schoolhouse last year, 2½ agonizing minutes ticked by before state police were able to force their way into the barricaded building...
It's hard to believe that today is the 5th anniversary of the shooting at Chardon High School, where 3 students were killed and 3 others were wounded...
In case you haven't been following the classroom barricade device issue closely, here's an update. Within the last few years, products have begun to appear on the market which were advertised as a secure way to lock a classroom door...
This morning I found an article in my news alerts: Roxbury Eyes Spending $580K on "Man Traps" for Schools. My first thought..."Oh. No."
As I've said before, with regard to classroom security code changes, NFPA 101 is on a slightly different schedule than the the ICC codes. Although changes to the 2018 editions of the IBC and IFC have already been approved...
This article was written by John Woestman of the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) and recently appeared in Locksmith Ledger...
The Door Security and Safety Foundation has announced a video and public relations campaign which stresses the importance of securing classroom doors without compromising life safety...
This Wordless Wednesday photo came from Dustin Elam of the Santa Ana Unified School District. Dustin's not responsible for the instructional signage. :D
As soon as I heard the news, I remembered a video that was produced by Ohio State University, instructing people how to respond...
Despite the dramatic advances in construction, technological tools and safety protocols that have been made in the past two decades, this progress is not always evident in many of our nation’s K-12 buildings...
Last week, the family of Colleen Ritzer filed a lawsuit against the town of Danvers, the school department, the architectural firm that designed the new wing of the school where the teacher was killed, and the cleaning company...
What should a school consider before purchasing classroom barricade devices, also known as temporary door locking devices?
The classroom security change that will be included in the 2018 IFC is consistent with the IBC, and early adoption of this language would go a long way toward maintaining life safety and creating a uniform set of requirements across the United States.
I occasionally publish a post from a guest blogger, and I just learned that sometimes the author can receive CEUs for these posts through various industry organizations. Today's post is from Don Cherry of Allegion.
In the wake of any tragedy, society struggles collectively to process the loss. For some it is the loss of friends and loved ones, but for most it is our feelings of safety and trust in the overall goodness of our fellow man that are diminished or seemingly lost entirely. In their place, we are filled with an overwhelming desire to do something...
I received this photo from Guardian Fire Testing. The bolts have been installed on existing fire-rated doors in a school, and Guardian was asked to relabel these fire door assemblies...
A code change proposal has been submitted to the North Carolina Building Code Council, to address "emergency lockdown safety mechanisms" (AKA barricade devices) in schools, government buildings and office buildings...
CPTED (pronounced sep-ted) stands for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and is defined as a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design...
I read an article this morning about a 3-year-old boy who eloped from his preschool in Bangor, Maine. The teacher saw him go through the exterior door...
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer is hoping a device he invented will be in your child’s school soon. It’s designed to keep active shooters out of classrooms...
For the last year or more, our industry has been dealing with legislation overriding the code development process in several states, with regard to classroom security...
We have been asked to share our expertise and constructive feedback on this product idea for locking classroom doors...
During yesterday's shooting at UCLA, Brian Fochler tagged me in a photo tweeted from the engineering building where the shooting was taking place, which was my first indication that something lock-related was happening. Since then I've received many other emails...
Schools have been able to use magnets over locking mechanisms, allowing doors to be easily opened throughout the day and still lock quickly by simply removing the magnet. But by Jan. 1, 2018, that quick fix will no longer be enough...
Here's the latest on classroom barricade devices...let me know what's happening in your state.
The National Center for Education Statistics has just published an updated report for Indicators of School Crime and Safety through 2015. The good news is...
In this age of classroom shootings, many are looking for barricade locks - a cheap and easy stopgap to bolster door security...
If a school decides to buy all new doorknobs for their school, and only buy a lever handle for the one classroom with a teacher who has a disability, in my opinion that would not meet the intent of the ADA. What makes it ok to do the same thing with classroom barricade devices?
Safety officials are concerned a new state law that allows barricade devices on classroom doors could make a crisis situation worse. The idea sounds great...
THE VOTES ARE IN, and the code change proposed by BHMA to address classroom locking in the 2018 IBC has been approved as modified by public comment!
These school security requirements could eventually be incorporated into your state's school security legislation. What additions or changes would you like to see?
Last week, the debut event of the Congressional School Safety Caucus on Capitol Hill was hosted by the Security Industry Association (SIA). This event brought together the co-chairs of the caucus with school security experts to talk strategy, and included a panel discussion moderated by Tim Eckersley...
As a member of the door and hardware industry, my focus with regard to classroom lockdown is how to provide security without jeopardizing safety. Lt. Joseph Hendry of the Kent State University Police Department looks at the issue from a slightly different (and valuable) perspective...
In yesterday's post I wrote about a video on classroom barricade devices that had gone viral. In the first 36 hours or so, the video had 18 million views. 18 MILLION! Almost 600,000 people have shared the video on Facebook, and about 6,500 people have commented. This is an amazing (and somewhat disturbing) example of the power of social media...
A video about classroom barricade devices - a particular company's devices, actually - has been posted on a Facebook page and has gone viral. Right now, about 14 hours after it was posted, it has over 3 million views. There are over 1,000 comments - many of them in support of this idea...
Last Friday, the Ohio Board of Building Standards posted a 434-page business impact analysis containing all of the comments submitted with regard to the proposed code change on classroom barricade devices. My comments to the board included a comparison of the recommendations made in the July 2015 OBBS Final Report vs. the proposed code language...
Every December I weed through my inbox so I can start fresh in the new year. I get A LOT of email...my inbox is currently down to only 525 emails waiting for some sort of action on my part. I just found an email that included a link to an article from NFPA Journal...
There is too much valuable information in this white paper for me to cut and paste small sections here - I'd recommend reading the complete document, but one paragraph did catch my eye...
What do you think about the idea of using a children's book, like this one from the ALICE Training Institute, to teach kids about preparing for a school shooting?
