Safe rooms can be the difference between life and death and having one is important. Having a safe room can prevent violence, destruction and terror in the event that a catastrophic situation were to occur. Creating a safe room in the office would able to protect families and executives from violence while you wait for emergency services to arrive.
A safe room or a panic room is a strong, fortified room that you can use to hide whether it is inside a house or an office, it is to be used in an emergency situation such as a flood, a terrorist event or if there was an intruder. It offers protection until the police arrives and they catch the intruders. It is a hiding place that is quick to reach and where you do not risk meeting the intruder.
Essential Items in A Safe Room
There are some essential items that you will need to stock up on in your safe room to help you in an emergency situation, these items include
- Drinking Water
A safe room should include plenty of drinking water as it is a basic human need that will be required when thirsty.
- First Aid Kit
In the event that someone was injured, you would need a first aid kit that contains band-aids, alcohol wipers, gauze pads, and over-the-counter medication such as Ibuprofen are some of the essential items you would need in your first aid kit.
- Communication
The safe room should contain a telephone or cellphone, ensure that it is fully charged as you will need it to contact emergency services for help.
Safe Rooms in The Office
Safe rooms may be for emergencies, but the kind of disasters that might strike homes can differ from disasters that can occur in offices. That is why safe rooms for offices have to be designed differently. The kind of threats that can occur in offices include.
- An Active Shooter
There might be a person who wants to attack the office because of a vendetta that they have against the brand. This could put the lives of so many people at risk.
- Company/Industry Protest
If a public outcry were to occur, protesters of high tempered people might show up to incite violence which would be dangerous for employees. A safe room would be the perfect place for people to hide if the protests escalated.
- Suspicious Package
A safe room can also be used to protect the people outside the safe room. If a suspicious package was dropped off, the best place to keep it would be inside a safe room until the police arrive to investigate.
How to Set Up A Safe Room In An Office
Setting up a safe room is similar to building a small safe, but with features that allow human protection and use. Here are some requirements for a safe room.
- Doors
The doors of an office safe room are very important as they are the only moving and operating security element of the room. The purpose of the door will be to keep the people inside safe and restrict access to the perpetrators that are outside.
The best door for corporate safe rooms is a ballistic door as it is not too heavy, but is difficult to use. The door should have a mechanical self-closer as it will be able to keep the door closed. The door that is not recommended to use is a motorized door as it could lead to injuries when someone is trying to jump into the rooms
- Locking Devices
A safe room needs to have a different method of protection as they are meant to offer immediate protection for people, therefore there is a need for a method of entry that is quick. The door should always be unlocked unless if it is in use as it allows for quick entry. Once people are inside, there needs to be locking devices which are either electronic or mechanical.
- Walls
The walls of the room can be the easiest to attack so it is important to take measures to improve their strength. They should be bullet resistant as shooting situations are very likely in corporate spaces and they should be able to offer protection for natural disaster such as storms. Walls can be made ballistic rated with the use of lightweight sheets of materials which can be placed inside the walls when they are being constructed. For existing walls, they can be placed over these existing walls and are then screwed through drywall into studs.
- Back Up Power
In the event that there was an emergency that caused a power outage, such as a storm or a severe attack, you would require back up power. A back up generator could be beneficial in the situation as you would need a generator to power crucial elements like lights and outlets in the room which would allow you to charge phones.
- Communication Systems
The people in the safe room will need to communicate with the people outside the office and vice versa. This communication can be between other employees, the police or your security company. You can make use of cellphones or panic buttons and intercoms. This will be able to assist with office-wide communication and ensure that everyone in the safe room will know it is safe to come out.
Conclusion
Offices need to be aware of the threats that they can face and build safe rooms that will be able to offer maximum protection in those situations. Proper planning and preparation will be able to save lives in the event that disaster struck.
See our guide of Commercial Security Gates – Top Picks For Your Office.
