An Investigation into the Quality of Emergency Lockdown Procedures in New Zealand

Secondary Schools

Developed from a 60 Credit research report presented in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of Masters of Management in Occupational Safety and

Health at Massey University

A. H. Evans 2011

A summary of the questionnaire results

Is a lockdown response necessary?

HSE Act (1992)

Section 6: Every employer shall take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees while at work and in particular shall take all practicable steps to…e) develop procedures for dealing with emergencies that may arise while employees are at work.

Section 15: Every employer shall take all practicable steps to ensure that no action or inaction of any employee while at work harms any other person.

NAG 5

Each board of trustees is also required to:

(a) Provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students

(b) Comply fully with any legislation currently in force or that may be developed to ensure the safety of students or employees

Emergencies that may arise?

Include but are not limited to:Fire Gas leak Aggressive

intruder Medical EarthquakeTsunami Volcanic eruption Bomb Threat Dangerous animal Flood Suicide Armed intruderAggressive student Community Emergency Pandemic

There are two realistic responses to an emergency

Emergency evacuation – Move people from an area of higher risk to area of lower risk

Emergency lockdown – prevent people from moving from an area of lower risk to an area of higher risk.

Having both of these responses available makes managing emergency situations much more effective.

Methodology• Extensive literature review used to

develop 5 elements of best practice:• Communication• Actions within classroom• Actions in non classroom areas• Staff training• Drills

• Elements of best practice used to develop online questionnaire

Who was involved?

• 266 New Zealand secondary schools invited to participate.

• 69 responded completely giving a response rate of 25.9%.

• The results are detailed in the following slides.

Question1: Your position in the organisation?

Role of respondent

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Principal Deputy Principal AssociatePrincipal

H and SCoordinator

Other

Role

Per

cen

tag

e

It is clear that most of the respondents were senior managers of the school, most commonly Principals or Deputy Principals

Question 2: Does the school have a specific written emergency lockdown response?

Written emergency lockdown procedures

86.4

13.6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Yes

No

Res

po

nse

Percentage

The majority of responses indicate that school do have written emergency lockdown response procedures.

Question 3: Was the response developed internally or externally?

The overwhelming majority of procedures were developed internally by school staff.

Procedure developed...

80.3

4.55

15.2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Internally

Externally

N/A

Res

po

nse

Pecentage

Question 4: What is the primary method of

notifying the school to lockdown? Method of initiating lockdown

0102030405060708090

Verbal (Intercom) Key word (Intercom) Special Ring/Sound Other

Method

Per

cen

tag

e

The most common method of initiating an emergency lockdown response is through the sounding of a special alarm or signal.

Question 5: What is the primary recommended method of

communication between the following during a lockdown? Communication: Classrooms to administration

2

30

35

30

3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Intercom Phone Mobile Other None

Method

Per

cent

age

Communication: Non classroon to administration

2 1

24

46

21

7

0

10

20

30

40

50

Intercom Radio Phone Mobile Other None

Method

Per

cent

age

Communication: Administration to classrooms

1621 20

40

3

05

1015202530354045

Intercom Phone Mobile Other None

Method

Per

cent

age

Communication: Administration to non classroom areas

12

1

21

32

27

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Intercom Radio Phone Mobile Other None

Method

Per

cent

age

Question 6: From how many locations can a lockdown be activated.

The overwhelming majority of schools indicated that an emergency lockdown response could be activated from one location.

Lockdown activation points

76

10

2

12

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

One

Two

Three

Multiple

Nu

mb

er

Percentage

Question 7: How many staff have written authority to activate a lockdown?

61% of schools have fewer than four staff with authority to implement such a response.

Number of staff with written authority to activate lockdown

69

26

20

7 72 2 0 2 4

69

05

1015202530

One Two

Three

Four

Five Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

All Sta

ff

Man

agem

ent

Not writ

ten

Number

Per

cen

tag

e

Question 8: Where are copies of the lockdown response located?

It is recommended that copies of the procedure are available in five specific locations: Staff handbook, new staff

induction, visitor induction, classrooms and common areas.

Procedure Availability

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

All Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Nu

mb

er o

f lo

cati

on

s

Percentage

Question 9: How many of the 11 recommended in-classroom actions are

included in lockdown procedures

37% of schools have in excess of eight of the recommended eleven actions included in their emergency lockdown response procedure. None of the schools had all eleven

Appropriate in-classroom actions: Number included in documentation

04

10

23

31

1412

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

All Ten Nine Eight Seven Six Five Four

Number

Per

cen

tag

e

Question 10: Are there specific instructions detailing the appropriate response during:

Physical Education lessons appear to be most comprehensively covered with specific actions for those classes being included in 79% of procedures. Either end of the school day are the out of class

times that have the least specific actions available.

Responses include actions for specifc occasions

0102030405060708090

Interval/lunchtime PE Lessons Assemblies Before School After School

Occasion

Per

cen

tag

e Yes

No

Not sure

Question 11: Are there specific instructions on how students who are ‘out of class’ should respond to a lockdown signal?

Approximately two thirds of respondents indicated that instructions for what actions should be taken with regards to students who are out of class when an emergency lockdown response is initiated.

Are their instructions for students who are out of class?

66

32

2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Yes

No

Not sure

Res

po

nse

Pecentage

Question 12: Has there been an occasion at your school when a lockdown was initiated?

One quarter of respondents indicated that they have had an occasion to implement an emergency lockdown response.

Has a lockdown ever been initiated?

25

75

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Yes

No

Res

po

nse

Pecentage

Question 13: Has a lockdown drill been conducted at your school.

56% of respondents indicated that their school had conducted and emergency lockdown response drill.

Conducted lockdown drill?

56

44

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes

No

Res

po

nse

Percentage

Question 14: How often are lockdown drills conducted?

56% of respondents indicated that their schools held drills at least annually, while 35% reported never having held an emergency lockdown response drill.

Frequency of lockdown drills

35

9

37

19

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Never

Less than annually

Annually

More than annually

Fre

qu

ency

Percentage

Question 15: Is there a formal process for reviewing drills?

55% of respondents stated that their school did not have a formal process that was to be followed when reviewing performance of the drill.

Is there a formal review process?

42

55

4

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes

No

Not sure

Res

po

nse

Pecentage

Question 16: Is the formal review process followed?

60% of respondents that stated that there was a review process also believed that it was always followed.

Is the formal review process followed?

60

13

26

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Always

Sometimes

Never

Res

po

nse

Percentage

Question 17:Have you (respondent) received any training in the development of emergency procedures?

61% of the respondents claimed that they had not received any training in how to develop emergency response procedures.

Respondent recieved training?

39

61

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Yes

No

Res

po

nse

Percentage

Question 18: Have staff received training in:

Shows that some staff in each establishment have received training in each of the five identified areas.

Staff have received training in..

010

2030

4050

60

Crisismanagement

Risk ID Descision Making Threteningindividuals

Methods ofcommunication

Type of training

per

cen

tag

e

All Most Some None

ConclusionsIt appears from this research that while the majority of schools posses an emergency response lockdown procedure, most do not reflect elements of best practice developed in the aftermath of mass casualty events that have occurred overseas.

The amount of guidance provided by the Ministry of Education that is available to schools in developing these systems is minimal, and the Education Review Office appear reluctant to closely monitor these procedures as part of the review process.

The occurrence of high profile school shootings in the USA has lead to changes within legislation that require schools to have comprehensive emergency response plans which are to include lockdown procedure. Making schools legally obliged to have such procedures has ensured that state education boards have invested in developing guidelines to assist schools in developing these responses.

New Zealand has yet to experience a mass casualty school shooting event and there are presently no specific legislative requirements placed upon New Zealand schools to introduce lockdown procedures. These factors appear to have resulted in the development of effective emergency procedures to be a low priority within the Ministry of Education and school management teams within New Zealand.