User Manual

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7 Appendix: Schools
7.1 Introduction
Children have already been attending various levels of
schools before they enter into the higher echelons of
universities. This section of the document focuses on the
unique challenges faced by these institutions, which
change as the children become older, more independent
and less closely supervised.
In recent years a number of infamous incidents have
shown that a safe environment can no longer be taken
for granted, but must be actively created and protected.
Fortunately, in the majority of countries this type of threat
is still minimal. However, particularly schools in urban
areas need to be aware of such threats, take appropriate
precautions and establish emergency response
procedures to deal with such an event.
From kindergarten to secondary school
Each of these phases has its own parameters, regarding
the age of the pupil/student and the size of the
educational establishment. As students get older, they
need to take more responsibility for their own safety and
the safety of fellow students. However, it is always the
responsibility of the school to ensure that the staff are
given adequate training commensurate with the pupils
in their care. Although the necessary structural and
technical measures will vary little, the organizational
measures may vary as students take on more
responsibility for their behavior. Let’s briefly consider the
different types of educational facility, the latent dangers
present and the typical counter measures required.
Kindergarten
A typical kindergarten may have one or two large
classrooms, a cloakroom, toilets and an office. The
demands on fire protection solutions are relatively simple.
Standard smoke detectors fitted with sounder bases
should be installed in all rooms and fire drills should be
conducted on a regular basis. Such procedures reduce the
probability of panic in a genuine emergency and the
experience that the staff get from such fire practices can
prove invaluable in an emergency.
Basic security commonly relies on closing all external
doors once all children have entered the building.
Thereafter, it should not be possible to open those doors
from the outside, although they must be easily opened
from within (without keys or any similar tools). On the
other hand, the pupils should not be able to open the
doors themselves, as teachers need to know where their
charges are at all times and some younger children may
have the tendency to run off home in some situations.
Primary School
Primary schools may be considerably larger than
kindergartens, with a number of classrooms (for 30+
children), an assembly hall, kitchens, cloakrooms, toilets,
a teachers’ common room and the school office. However,
the demands on fire protection solutions are not
significantly greater, with the exception of the kitchens
that would require special attention due to the typical
dangers posed by hot ovens, cooking fats etc. As the
pupils in primary schools are well supervised at all times,
emergency evacuation would also be unlikely to present
significant problems. Basic security is provided in a similar
manner to kindergartens.
Secondary School
A typical secondary school may have several (multi-story)
buildings with numerous classrooms, a large assembly
hall, science laboratories, handicraft rooms, library,
kitchens, refectory, gymnasium, a cloakroom, toilets and
offices.
As they get older, the pupils become more independent
and less closely supervised, and the demands on fire
protection and security systems become significantly
greater. In particular this applies to the risk of arson,
which has become a major concern in many countries
(see section 2.6.1). The specialist classrooms mentioned
above would also require particular attention, as would
the escape routes. As pupils are often less closely
supervised, fire drills become even more important, to
ensure that in case of an emergency all pupils will leave
the building in an orderly manner and make their way to
the designated assembly areas where a roll-call can be
taken.
7.2 Specific issues
7.2.1 Arson
[1][5]
Many school fires are started deliberately and arson has
become a major concern to fire protection organizations.
In the UK, municipal fire brigades are called upon to deal
with over 2000 school fires each year, of which up to 70%
are thought to have been started deliberately. However,
this does not tell the whole story, as many small fires are
either dealt with by school staff or self extinguish. The
figures for Sweden and USA are similarly high and
although the problem is less severe in many other
countries, it is recognized as being a major concern.
These fires can be very costly, with insured damage to
schools alone in the UK estimated at over € 70 million p.a.
In addition to these direct costs we should not forget the
consequential losses:
 Organizing temporary classroom facilities
 Loss of school records, teaching notes, coursework
and research assets
 Loss of confidence in the school by parents
of prospective pupils
 Impact on morale of both teachers and pupils
The offences are typically committed by either a pupil or
an ex-pupil and are frequently opportunistic. Surprisingly,
approximately 30% of all cases occur during normal
school hours and this proportion is still rising, despite the
fact that the total number of cases is falling slightly. These
school-hour fires are often started in wastepaper bins or
in cloakrooms and are frequently dealt with by staff
members before any extensive damage can occur. The
fires that cause the most extensive damage are the ones
started outside school hours. The reasons for starting
a fire can be divided into four main categories: vandalism,
disrupting school activities, psychological issues and
covering up break-ins at the school.