If you were shown a photo of a K-12 campus — whether it be of a playground, a supply closet or a computer lab — would you be able to identify potential safety or security hazards?
Although campus safety and security are top priorities for most schools, even the most well-meaning may unknowingly be putting others at risk through seemingly small and harmless actions or inactions.
One way to assure your school or district is taking every precaution to protect students, staff and visitors, is through a security and vulnerability assessment (SVA), which are conducted to allow campuses to find areas of liabilities they didn’t know existed, develop strategies for prevention and mitigation, and learn how to recover from manmade or natural events.
Take a look at SVA photos in this slideshow to see if you can spot the safety mistakes. We’ve also included a handful of images of schools that took proper safety measures to protect students and staff. All of the photos in this slideshow have been provided to us by Gary Sigrist, CEO and president of Safeguard Risk Solutions and a retired school district safety director.
While some of these mishaps may seem like obvious mistakes, it is important to remember that these are REAL photos taken at ACTUAL schools in the United States — and the mistakes are more prevalent than you think.
Although many might think, “Well, I wouldn’t do something that negligent,” campus protection professionals are often overwhelmed and understaffed — especially given the current pandemic and the added responsibilities and precautions that come with it.
Want more? Here are the links to our previous SVA photo installments:
- Are You Making These 10 School Security Mistakes?
- 10 Times K-12 Schools Screwed Up Security (And 5 Times They Nailed It)
- 12 School Safety Mistakes Found During Site Assessments
- 10 School Safety Dos and Don’ts Caught on Camera by Security Consultants
- 13 Times K-12 Schools Got Security Very, Very Wrong (And 6 Times They Got It Right)
- Can You Spot the Mistakes in These Campus Security Photos?
- D’oh! Don’t Make These 10 Ridiculous Campus Security Mistakes
Do you have any examples you’re willing to share from your own site assessments? We would keep the school(s) anonymous. Send your photos to [email protected].
