Threats from natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires as well as active shootings are firmly a part of the facility management landscape.
While each of these situations require different safety-related actions, all have dramatic impacts on emergency responsiveness, business continuity, loss of revenue, health & safety and access to building and equipment information. Another major impact is the displacement of students, patients, visitors, and staff members. Where do these people go when buildings are no longer safe?
Given the heightened awareness of these situations, facilities teams are taking proactive steps to prevent building intrusions, including badge access to buildings, infrared scanners to detect visitor temperatures, deploying metal detectors to alert security about weapons, limiting entry points to buildings, and exploring different types of lock systems for classrooms, offices, and patient areas. All these systems are installed and maintained by facilities teams - adding to their already robust set of safety and security responsibilities.
Seamless connections, communication and collaboration between teams and departments is critical to ensure rapid emergency responses for schools, healthcare institutions and other types of facilities.
It all starts with accurate, current information including current floor plans, emergency asset information, evacuation routes, shut-offs and mechanical equipment. Too often, facility information is scattered throughout buildings, in a plan room, in a binder or on a shared drive. This impacts emergency responsiveness and emergency management.
Mobile access is critical in an emergency so all teams can get what they need to respond in seconds. Minimizing the time to access this information saves both money and possibly lives.
In this on-demand webinar, David Trask discussed:
- How safety, security, facility management and other teams can work side by side to coordinate emergency management efforts
- More about the current crop of internal facility safety and security devices which fall under the responsibility of facilities teams for installation and maintenance
- How to access evacuation plans and action plans from your mobile device anywhere, anytime
- How to mitigate risk by sharing emergency and building plans to first responders before they arrive
- How to shut off power sources and water lines in seconds and prevent minor accidents from becoming major disasters