RESOLUTION NO. 165-20150506

RESOLUTION – ADOPTINGTHE OTSEGOCOUNTY

BUILDING LOCKDOWN POLICY

FRAZIER, LINDBERG, STULIGROSS, HULSE, GELBSMAN

WHEREAS, the Administration Committee of this Board approved and authorized the adoption of the Otsego County Building Lockdown Policy for the safety of employees and their workplace; and

WHEREAS, the Otsego County Building Lockdown Policy will be available for review by any OtsegoCounty employee at the Otsego County Personnel Office and on the County website;now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Otsego County Board of Representatives hereby approves and adopts the Otsego County Building Lockdown Policy, annexed to this resolution, effective May 6, 2015:

OtsegoCounty

Building Lockdown Policy

4/20/15

  1. General Policy Statement

OtsegoCounty’s distributed campus facilities present a unique challenge when ensuring the physical security of staff, visitors, property and equipment. Routine day-to-day daily security functions must have the capability to secure facilities in emergent situations. This policy should not replace good common sense and immediate life safety decisions.

  1. Background

Lockdown Procedures are defined as[WU1] the process or procedure where people in a building take refuge in a secure location, e.g. in offices or classrooms. Lockdown procedures are usually initiated when it is unsafe to evacuate the building. These procedures are not specific to Active Shooter Situations. They can and should be used for any situation that requires a decrease in staff and visitor movement.

Lockdown procedures are often developed to reduce the number of casualties that could occur if there is a shooter inside or outside a facility. While physical threats are normally attributed to an armed intruder or hostage taker, this however does not have to be the case. Physical threats may come in the form of any individual or group of individuals, with or without any type of weapon, having the intent to cause injury. Physical threats may be a result of workplace violence, domestic violence, protest, demonstration, a criminal act occurring near a facility, a law enforcement attempted apprehension near the facility, etc. Lockdown procedures may assist in addressing physical threats from any of these causes.

The Otsego CountyWorkplace Violence Policy requires the assessmentteam to conduct a yearly[WU2]workplace violence hazard assessments to determine whether the nature of the work or the work environment places employees at risk and to take all reasonable and practical measures to minimize or eliminate risks identified through the hazard assessment process, workplace inspections, or the occurrence of an incident

  1. Scope

Certain risk factors may be identified during workplace violence risk assessments that would separately or in combination warrant the development and implementation of lockdown procedures for a facility or group of facilities. Such risk factors may include:

  • Past occurrences at the facility or similar type of facility
  • Past occurrences at neighboring facilities
  • Proximity of the facility to potentially risk areas (schools, high traffic areas, courts, etc)
  • Requests by any Law Enforcement Agency such Otsego County Sheriffs, NYS Police, NYS Court Officers, Oneonta Police, Cooperstown Police, Probation Officers or District Attorney Investigators for any public safety emergency.

When reviewing the need for any emergency procedure consideration should be given to:

  1. Whether the type of emergency can be reasonably foreseen; and,
  2. If theemergency counter-measures (procedures) being considered will be useful and practical.

It should be noted that lockdown procedures alone will rarely be the only action that is required in response to any identified workplace violence risk factor. It is important for County DepartmentHeads and staff to identify staff and visitors who might pose a danger to others and to take appropriate action. For troubled employees, management must intervene and use appropriate resources to assist the employee. In many of these cases, individuals were aware of warning signs but failed to notify the appropriate persons or seek to get the individual proper assistance. Another important preventative action is to practice proper basic security procedures such as delineating employee and public space, notifying Security/Management of suspicious individuals/items, locking doors and reporting all incidents of misconduct or security breaches.

[WU3]D. Types of Lockdowns

The following information with respect to types of lockdowns and recommended content for procedures is intended to assist divisions whose workplace violence hazard assessment identifies the need for such procedures.

There are generally three types of lockdowns:

  • A. Shelter-in-Place.
  • B. Hold and Secure (Partial lockdown for danger due to physical/environmental threat outside the facility or in neighborhood).
  • C. Full Lockdown for danger due to physical threat inside the facility.
  1. Shelter-in-Place
    This type of lockdown is normally referred to when an environmental threat is present outside and it is not possible or advisable to evacuate the facility. This type of action is normally in response to an air contaminant and involves keeping the air contaminates outside the building and keeping persons from unnecessarily putting themselves in medical danger.
  2. Hold and Secure (Partial Lockdown for danger due to a physical or environmental threat outside the facility or in the neighborhood)
    This type of lockdown is used when a serious environmental/physical threat is present outside of the facility or in the neighborhood and prevention measures need to be enacted to:
  3. Protect individual(s) from leaving the facility and entering into an area of danger; or
  4. Prevent the threat from entering the facility.
  5. Full Lockdown for danger due to physical threat inside the facility
    This type of lockdown is used when the physical threat is already in the facility and measures need to be enacted to:
  6. Prevent the threat from accessing areas/assets being threatened;
  7. To protect assets (individuals) from entering areas where the threat may be present; and, to protect assets (individuals) from remaining in areas where the threat may be moving to.

E. Guidelines

These guidelines are not intended to be all inclusive or to be used at all sites, as written, as it is recognized that each site is unique and requires individualized procedures. These protocols are however provided as a framework to help guide the creation of site specific procedures, where required.

One of the most important actions that must take place in any potential lockdown situation is to ensure that Law Enforcement has been contacted. This action is in addition to information regarding expected activities during the response from police agencies, fire and EMS should be integrated into any procedures. All employees should follow the directions of Law Enforcement Officers in charge.

  1. Shelter-in-Place
    In the case of external health hazard or Weather Emergency, where it is not possible or advisable to evacuate the building, the following procedures are recommended:
  2. A Department Head, Security Officer, or someone inauthoritymaking an announcement of a Shelter-in-Place over the facility’s public address system or other means of communication. Since some facilities do not have emergency notification systems, other means of communication should be utilized.
  3. All interior personnel should be advised to move upwards to an interior room on a higher floor since many agents are heavier than air.
  4. All interior personnel should close windows and doors.
  5. Building Operations or Security staff should:
  6. Ensure exterior doors are locked.
  7. Turn off heating, air conditioning and ventilation systemsif appropriate.
  8. Check the inventory of openings to ensure that no openings have been overlooked.
  9. A Department Head, Security Officer, or someone in authority should monitor radio traffic or mediaoutlets for further updates and have occupants remain in the shelter-in-place mode until law enforcement authorities indicate it is safe to release occupants.
  10. Hold and Secure (Partial Lockdown for danger due to a physical or environmental threat outside the facility or in the neighborhood)
    This scenario involves immediate precautions including:
  11. A Department Head, Security Officer, or someone in authority making an announcement to HOLD AND SECURE over the facility’s public address system or other means of communication. If facility does not have emergency notification systems, other means of communication needto be utilized.
  12. This communication should advise individuals inside the building of the threat, not to leave the facility, to control movement inside the facility, and to advise that further updates will be provided. A sample wording for use on a public address system could start with “Attention, this is a security alert. We are implementing “hold and secure” procedures…”
  13. A designated individual(s) physically securing entrance doors.
  14. Closing all blinds and drapes if by doing so does not attract attention.
  15. Turning off room lights and computer monitors
  16. Keeping all persons away from windows and doors.
  17. All individuals preparing to move into a full/complete lockdown if required.
  18. Partial lockdown will end ONLY when released by law enforcement authorities.
  19. Full Lockdown for danger due to physical threat inside the facility
    This scenario involves immediate precautions including:
  20. A Department Head, Security Officer, or someone in authority making an announcement of a COMPLETE LOCKDOWN over the facility’s public address system or other means of communication. Since some facilities do not have emergency notification systems, other means of communication will need to be utilized.
  21. Individuals outside the facility should not enter the facility but instead head away from the building and meet at a pre-arranged evacuation point.
  22. Individuals inside the facility should:
  23. Remain in the room in which they are located.
  24. If in a hallway, immediately head to the closest room and lock the door.
  25. Supervisory staff should quickly look into the hallways, let non-threatening personnel into the room, and lock the door.
  26. All individuals should move down onto the floor unless they hear otherwise from someone in authority.
  27. Locate in an area with decreased visibility from doors and windows
  28. Try not to congregate in any given location.
  29. All individuals should make as little noise as possible.
  30. The Fire Alarm system should not be utilized
  31. Individuals should turn off cell phones, pagers, radios, Blackberries, etc.
  32. Close all windows and curtains if it can be accomplished safely and the process does not attract attention.
  33. Turn lights off.
  34. If Possible, turn off computer monitors to decrease ambient lighting.
  35. Keep people away from windows and doors
  36. Avoid all unnecessary motion
  37. Keep hands empty and in plain sight of responding law enforcement authorities
  38. Lockdown will end ONLY when released by law enforcement authorities.

F. Key factors

Prior to and during the utilization of lockdown procedures, the following should be considered:

Other actions that could prevent incidents of workplace violence including security measures, physical barriers and staff training in conflict resolution and workplace violence should be implemented as needed, in advance of or in conjunction with the development and implementation of lockdown procedures.

  • Lockdown procedures should be developed in response to risks identified through the workplace violence risk assessment.
  • Lockdown procedures should be site specific and incorporated into site emergency plans.
  • There is a need to develop effective means of communicating lockdowns to staff, given that some facilities do not have emergency notification systems.
  • Lockdown practices and procedures must never interfere with the occupants’ abilities to evacuate promptly should the circumstances warrant it.
  • Emergency plans must be practiced to be effective. Regular information and/or training sessions for all staff are essential if lockdown procedures are developed.
  • Any lockdown procedure requires employee buy-in and participation, thereby making consultation during development of procedures essential.
  • Staff should be made aware that the County of Otsegowill make appropriate referrals [WU4]to provide employees with direct access to professionals who can help resolve problems before they affect the employee’s health, personal life or job performance.

OtsegoCountyBuilding Lockdown Policy

By signing below you acknowledge that you have received a copy of the Otsego County Building Lockdown Policy.

______

Signature

______

Print Name

______

Date

1

[WU1]Process/procedure where

[WU2]yearly

[WU3]Is this required?

[WU4] No EAP Program, so Otsego county can make referrals …