Re-posted with permission from Campus Safety Magazine and edited.
This is a continuation of last week’s story on how to get what you need from your security systems integrators with help from the ISG.
Top Safety & Security Challenges
Large end users may have generally similar safety and security missions in protecting buildings and occupants, but there can also be perils unique to the size and scope of any given facility and the nature of its purpose. A sobering example, the healthcare industry.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), serious workplace violence incidents are four times more likely to occur in healthcare environments than in private industry. In fact, healthcare accounts for nearly as many serious violent injuries as all other industries combined. Healthcare professionals in certain sectors of the industry are even more vulnerable to workplace violence than law enforcement officers and security guards, according to OSHA.
“Workplace violence is probably the thing that we work to address more than anything else,” says Clay. “We rely on a number of technologies to help protect our staffs.”
CoxHealth is a six-hospital, 1,050 bed not-for-profit healthcare system headquartered in Springfield, Mo. Clay’s security operations manage more than 900 security cameras across the facilities, plus robust visitor management and analytical software to ensure resources are deployed efficiently. Security personnel are equipped with body-worn cameras, handheld metal detectors and more.
“Portable duress alarms are a big thing for us right now. We’re testing those alarms in some of our more high-risk areas, such as emergency rooms and psych units, which allow us to triangulate exactly where someone is in the space and respond directly to that location,” Clay explains.
As with many commercial and public venues, Carotenuto contends with the challenge of deploying security and life-safety technologies while maintaining a sense of openness and welcoming aesthetics. Cultural institutions, he says, should maintain spaces where people can feel free to express themselves, unencumbered by intrusive electronics or personnel.
“People are understanding that there is technology, including video surveillance and screening. But that is to keep everybody safe. The challenge is to be present, but sort of in the background so we can keep that open environment,” he says. “The Shed is not about security, it’s about artwork and performances and that always must shine through. The security has to become an afterthought for visitors and even sometimes for the staff.”
In his years as a school safety professional, Grace says the biggest challenges have always centered around the balancing act between good technology and emergency preparedness. You can also add to that mental health processes and procedures that school districts have implemented in more recent time.
“So the major challenge was bringing in programs that holistically work together, and work together in a multihazard facet,” he says. “[In the context of] school safety, if you put one bad apple in the cart — one bad piece of technology or one bad mental health practice or one bad emergency preparedness practice — it could upset the holistic processes of school safety.”
As security systems integrators know, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for any school district in the United States, thereby complicating the balancing act, Grace adds. One common goal that must be established, he believes, is to avoid turning schools into prison-like environments in a pursuit to deploy all-encompassing security and emergency preparedness measures.
“Security can be very complicated, but it can also be in the background. And I think that that’s very important in K-12,” he says. “It is very important for us to work together with our integrators and for all sides to be open minded. And that’s not just our integrators, but our school district, our community and our manufacturers.”
Get Solutions & Advice from Your Local Expert
The ISG offers a wide range of solutions that can improve your school or business’s safety and security. We can work alongside your current security systems integrators, or in lieu of them, to get the job done right.
In fact, whether you manage a K-12 school, a college or university, a healthcare facility, government agency or a corporate campus, we have safety and security solutions and services that will satisfy all of your identification, credential management and access control needs.
Come back next week for the conclusion of this story.
Original article written by Rodney Bosch for Security Sales & Integration
