If there’s ever a place that you want to keep safe and secure, it’s those where young adults and children are present. After all, keeping an educational facility secure is essential and creating a safe space for students should be an absolute priority for any staff member. So just how do you keep schools and universities safe?
Installing a proper CCTV system is definitely one of the most efficient and effective ways to keep educational establishments safe, as well as deter potential criminal activity.
CCTV is one of the best ways to constantly monitor the behaviour of students (in case of bullying, for example), catch criminals in the act, as well ensuring both your students and staff feel protected. Of course, CCTV footage also provides ideal evidence in court, if necessary.
It’s worth noting that contrary to common belief, setting up a CCTV system at a school or university is allowed, however, there are laws and guidelines to follow surrounding the privacy and data protection of students.
As a school or university, you might want to take things up a gear by hiring a professional security business, like Stonewall Security to monitor your CCTV footage. This provides total peace of mind for those on-site, as the security experts can react and respond to any unruly or criminal behaviour. Plus, if your CCTV is monitored, the team at Stonewall Security will be in a position to contact the relevant authorities or individuals in case of an incident.
Of course, as well as CCTV, installing an alarm system provides total reassurance when the premises is empty (during the school holidays) or at night. After all, one of the biggest security concerns for the likes of schools and universities is that they remain safe out of hours.
Better still, if you have hire a security firm, like Stonewall Security, to provide a response service, then you’ll know specially trained experts will respond accordingly when or if the alarm goes off – which means you or your staff aren’t putting themselves at risk.
It’s essential that you know who is able to get into the school or university, which means having an efficient locking system in place. Access control entry (which can differ depending on each area on site) is the perfect way to keep on top of who is allowed into which location. We would suggest access cards as one of the best ways to keep on top of who is entering the premises.
Of course, restricted access also enables your establishment to get on top of the visitors entering the school or university.
You might also want to consider – especially schools, which have a smaller area to cover – restricted access. This means that not all of your staff will have access to every single door on-site. Instead, their key or fob will only allow them to access certain areas. Of course, there should be at least one person, perhaps the headteacher who has a master key that allows entry to every door.
If you are especially concerned about safeguarding at your school, or you’re a university, you might want to think about hiring a manned guard to boost security on your premises.
From static guards, to mobile patrols and night guards, there are plenty of services available for you to add that extra level or security on your site.
If you work at a school or university and are looking to improve your security, then contact Stonewall Security. We are a leading security provider in the Rugby, supporting educational establishments just like you, across the Midlands and beyond. Get in touch with us to find out more about the security services we offer.
