Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
Organizations operating across multiple buildings like schools, hospitals, military bases, or hotel properties face a simple reality: Fragmented communication creates risk. In an emergency, delays, confusion, or missed alerts can escalate situations quickly. End-to-end safety communication systems are emerging as a critical approach to reduce that risk, enabling organizations to prevent, respond to, and recover […]
Walk into almost any K‑12 school in America, and you’ll see evidence of intent: secured or restricted vestibules, posted check-in procedures, and safety guidelines on the wall. But walk in during the middle of a busy afternoon, and you’ll probably see something different: a door that’s been propped open, a visitor wandering past an unattended […]
Editor’s note: FM Perspectives are industry op-eds. The views expressed are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Facilities Management Advisor. The morning looks like any other: elevators moving, tenants badging in, the lobby filling with familiar faces. Then—gunfire erupts in the lobby. Security scrambles for their radio. By the time 911 confirms, chaos has […]
With the Atlantic hurricane season officially underway, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging chemical facilities to prevent major chemical releases that could result from high winds and other extreme weather events. Although the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted a below- normal hurricane season this year, the threat posed […]
The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University has published new research in partnership with the Security Industry Association (SIA) that examines school safety in the United States and how schools can prevent, mitigate, and reduce the impact of active shooter events. The study, titled “The Role of Locked Doors and Access Control in School-Based […]
Hurricanes, tornados, and severe thunderstorms are just a few examples of extreme weather events that can cause structural damage and significantly disrupt operational continuity. Downtime, lost production, critical infrastructure damage, and threats to human safety are all serious possible outcomes. Mitigating these risks can be done in several ways, but one of the most important […]
Spanning three countries and 16 host cities, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is rife with unprecedented circumstances and inherent logistical challenges that will arguably make it the most complex and vulnerable security climate of any public sporting event ever. At the heart of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is the stadiums where the matches will […]
Workplace safety programs have never been more sophisticated, yet when something actually goes wrong, many still fall short. Organizations have invested heavily in prevention, from training protocols to compliance systems. But when an incident actually happens, many are still unprepared for the most critical moment: the response. There’s a growing disconnect between the protections employers […]
As the latest season of “The Pitt” wrapped, viewers watched a familiar pattern unfold: healthcare workers navigating not only high-stakes care, but sudden, escalating workplace violence. Nurse Emma Nolan is first grabbed during a tense interaction, then later attacked in a confined patient room with no ability to call for help. In a separate incident, […]
In facilities management, the term “firefighting” gets used a lot. Sometimes it is said with pride. Sometimes with frustration. Usually both. It describes the daily scramble to deal with leaks, outages, complaints, failed equipment, last-minute shutdowns, vendor delays, and emergencies that seem to arrive all at once. It is an “us against them” kind of […]