School safety has always been important, but the recent advent of campus violence has brought the issue into the media spotlight, increasing scrutiny on campus security practices. So what should we be doing to make our schools as safe as possible? While there are no infallible plans, there are precautions schools can take to keep our students safe.

1. Designate a Single Point of Entry to Your School

Having a secure single entrance is one of the most important factors contributing to the safety of your school. The main entrance to your school should be the most scrutinized location when evaluating the current level of safety on campus. If your school has a buzz-in entry system, and/or video surveillance, that’s even better.

2. Have a (Strict) Visitor Policy in Place

Another important part of a secure school is having a strict visitor policy in place that your staff habitually enforces. The basics of a good plan is to make sure you know who is allowed to pick up your students, and deny leniency, no matter what. Your school can also determine whether contractors and volunteers need to pass a background screening prior to entry.

3. Use Visitor Management Software

Having software to check-in your visitors is exponentially more reliable and secure than manually-written log sheets. Automating that process, and moving it to the cloud keeps the visitor log, so you can see who is on your campus at all times. This is also helpful in the case of an emergency.

4. Enable Background Checks

When you use a visitor management software, there is the ability to run background checks against key government databases. This adds an additional level of security—and piece-of-mind.

5. Invest in the Right Auxiliary Tools and Supplies

With a proper visitor policy in place, some extra tools and supplies may be necessary to help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the plan. Supplies like self-expiring badges, where the ink turns from black to red in 24 hours, and drivers license scanners help add additional safety measures and save your staff time.

CCTV, and especially analytic CCTV, is a worthwhile investment for your business IF done properly.

It’s got to be thought-through and carefully considered; it’s not just about bunging some cameras on the wall, there’s a lot to it!

Here are 7 essential questions you should consider to help you decide what you’re really looking to get out of your CCTV system before you buy

If you’re not sure about any of them, don’t fret – we’re here to help!

1 – Do you want your CCTV cameras to be discreet or a visual deterrent?

Dome cameras are the most discrete as their dark, semi-circled design doesn’t easily give away the direction the camera’s actually pointing towards.

Box cameras are the most obvious. The name itself hints at the shape of it and you’ll definitely know it’s there.

So, what are you looking for – to blend in and observe or to be a noticeable deterrent?

2 – Would you like your CCTV cameras to be indoors or outdoors?

Most modern cameras can be used both indoors and outdoors, however, being specific with your choice could lead to you having a clearer picture and many other benefits.

As well as this, factors such as temperature come into play. And longevity. You’re much better getting cameras specifically designed and tailored for being outside if that’s what you want than getting one which can do both.

So, be mindful if you’re setting your cameras up to brave the cold outside, a durable design and inbuilt heater may be necessary in certain conditions.

3 – What level of coverage are you seeking?

If each camera needs to cover a large area, you may want to look at dynamic and wide-angle view cameras.

If the coverage area is fairly small, a static camera can be the most efficient use of your resources.

Knowing what kind of coverage you’re looking for will also help answer other questions for us as your CCTV designers and installers, like what distance/zoom you want (i.e. how far away is your focal point?) and whether optical or digital lenses will be preferable (optical lenses move to increase or decrease the image whereas digital lenses don’t do this via the lens itself but electronically).

4 – How clear do you need your images to be?

Higher resolution cameras will be needed for larger coverage areas and therefore should have a clearer image.

However, small rooms typically require low-resolution cameras.
If you need to, for instance, be able to read number plates, when you look back at your footage, then you’ll need to consider the clarity of your images.

5 – What are the lighting conditions of the environment you’re seeking to place your CCTV cameras?

Indoor and outdoor lighting will impact the image and therefore must be considered when setting up.

While most cameras are adjustable, some specific cameras are not, so you need to consider lighting and how this may distort the quality of the playback images.

6 – Do you also need audio to accompany your CCTV?

Is sound just as important as the visuals? Some system set-ups enable you to even speak with potential perpetrators. In addition to this, audio detection can be used to trigger recordings and alarms when audio passes a certain threshold.

7 – Do you need to consider scalability?

It is likely that over time you’ll need to add more cameras? If so, having a flexible and scalable surveillance system is important, so make sure to include this within your considerations before investing in CCTV.

8 – What about playback?

Playback footage may not come out as clear as your live images. This is because when the footage is recorded, the system compresses the footage to save the data, therefore what you are seeing on playback will be a compressed image of what is picked up.

However, with the right Video Management System (VMS), the footage doesn’t have to be compressed, which means your video playback will be as clear as the live footage.

Our customer’s favourite and our recommendation would be to use Avigilon systems, cameras and VMS. The software and systems offer more than just high quality surveillance footage, but also analytical processes as explained earlier on in this article.

As a restaurant manager, we understand you want to keep your people, premises and customers safe. Fires can be devastating, not just for your people and premises but also the neighboring properties. There are many cases of fires spreading from the original source of ignition.

Did you know kitchen appliances account for 25% of all fires in restaurants? While cookers account for 23% and electrical distribution accounts for 17% of all fires. However, fires can be started in a variety of ways.

Here is our Top 10 worse fires since 2014

10.  JRK Kitchen – London – September 2019

60 firefighters and 8 fire engines attended the incident at the restaurant in Bayswater, London. the fire was believed to have been in the basement and ground floor of the building.

Crews were able to stop the fire from spreading to neighboring flats.

9. Bengal Raj Indian Restaurant – Western-Super-Mare

Mr Zamshed Alam, the restaurant owner received 6 months behind bars after pleading guilty to eight offenses under the fire safety order. An investigation found numerous safety findings, including;

• Failure to have a suitable Fire Risk Assessment
• Failure to ensure the premises was equipped with appropriate fire detectors and alarms
• Failure to ensure that emergency routes and exits were fitted with adequate fire doors so that people could safely escape in the event of a fire.

8. Dynasty restaurant – Bristol 

Mr Calvin Chong Chi Yin, owner of Dynasty restaurant received a suspended prison sentence after a fire broke out. Mr Chong is also under order to pay £2,000 in costs after admitting to six fire safety offenses including;

• A failure to take general fire precautions
• Not completing a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment

7. Gymkhana – London – June 2019

60 firefighters attended the Michelin starred Indian restaurant, which was badly damaged after a hige fire broke out. A large plume of smoke was seen across Mayfair, London.

The blaze stretched from the ground floor of the building all the way to the rood, with half the ground floor significantly damaged.

6. Ivy Restaurant – Manchester – January 2019

The ivy restaurant’s garden area remained closed for a month following the fire in January 2019. Aerial platforms had to be used to extinguish the blaze.

Diners who were eating at the time had to be evacuated before the fire service attended.

5.  Steak & Co – London – January 2018

Nearly 60 firefighters tackled the blaze that ripped through the central London restaurant. The ventilation system caught alight, spreading to the first and second floor of the restaurant and a conjoined office block.

Fire crews from Soho, Lambeth, Islington, West Hampstead, Stoke Newington and Euston all attended.

4. Rick Stein Restaurant – Cornwall – June 2017

The restaurant came within minutes from being completely destroyed after a huge explosion was heard at 1 AM. Arson wasn’t ruled out at the time of the fire while it was investigated. The bin store was completely destroyed and branded a shell, however firefighters had managed to save the main restaurant before it was destroyed.

3. Olive Restaurant – London – March 2019

Two Greek restaurants owned by the same family suffered devastating blazes on the same night. The Olive restaurant in Hawker and the Olive restaurant in Mason suffered fires in March 2019.

The Olive restaurant in Hawker was significantly damaged after a passer by helped extinguish the blaze, while the Olive restaurant in Mason was left destroyed.

2. Royale Garden Restaurant – West Bromwich – January 2017

The Afro-Caribbean restaurant was destroyed in a devastating blaze which saw the town centre shut down while firefighters extinguished the blaze. 55 firefighters attended while roads within the city centre were closed off for several hours.

Residents in the flats above the restaurant were left without accommodation.

1.  Fatz Diner – Darlington – December 2015

A former restaurant manager was jailed for 2 years following an arson attack which police believed was an act of vengeance. His co-defendant was also sentenced to 21 months in jail.

The pair were found guilty after the fire caused £168,000 worth of damage to the restaurant.

It’s never too early to act when it comes to fire safety. Accordingly if you need fire protection, do not hesitate to get in touch! Call 0738 883 5501 to get your quote today!