Policies for violations of no-smoking regulations should be in line with normal disciplinary procedures for other misconduct at the hospital. For many hospitals, this would mean an informal warning for a first offense ? reminding the staff member of the rules and pointing out that further transgressions will result in formal warnings. Second and further offenses typically incur formal written warnings, leading ultimately to more severe actions, such as disciplinary hearings or dismissal, when warranted in persistent cases. It is important, though, that there is a great deal of communication about the impending policy, before it or any violation procedures are implemented to ensure all those impacted are aware of the rules and consequences for non-compliance. It is best to coordinate with your hospital’s administrative staff to be sure the communication before and after the policy’s implementation is sufficient. It is extremely important that when changing over to a non-smoking facility you do not create a security risk for your facility. Last year, an organization in the United Kingdom conducted a social engineering study to test the ability to infiltrate buildings, and the organization’s tester was able to enter a building through a back door that was left open by smokers. Once inside the building, the tester was easily able to gain access to restricted areas and information. Staff members may unknowingly create a security hazard by propping open doors or mistakenly leaving doors unlocked when re-entering after breaks. Secondary doors to administrative or records areas in hospitals are often unmanned by staff members, allowing unauthorized individuals to come and go undetected. Also, non-smoking facilities often have increased loitering outside entrances to the facilities, and intruders may try to blend in with smoking employees to gain access into the building. If you are going to make your facility non-smoking, I highly recommend you set up a designated smoking area outside the facility in an area of the hospital campus that has building entrance and exits points that are properly monitored and/or secured. Electronic security systems can help hospitals prevent unauthorized people from gaining access to secure areas of their campus and avoid breaches of property or patient information. For example, access control systems that use readers, locking mechanisms and status devices, keep a door closed until an authorized person presents the necessary access credentials ? such as a hospital ID badge -- required to enter. These systems can also alert security personnel if a door has been propped or forced open, making the hospital building vulnerable. This will help your employees make the transition to a non-smoking facility, while keeping your buildings, employees and patients safe.

Depending on the size of the university, many choose to use a standalone Department of Public Safety to handle facility security. This minimizes the liability of the university and allows the department to remain independent. This is of particular importance when students or faculty are involved in a situation that requires legal or disciplinary actions because the police can remain impartial. This will also allow the Department of Student Affairs to focus on healthcare, student government, housing, dining and other services that are intended to focus solely on the student experience at the university. If kept separate, it is still vitally important that the two departments have processes in place to communicate and share information that is important for the safety, security and well-being of everyone on campus.

Each university has its own set of safety and security challenges and risks, depending on its location, available funding, technology that has already been installed and a range of other factors - making the creation of an industry standard difficult. However, there are certain capabilities and considerations to keep in mind when reviewing the available options for securing a university. Fire detection systems are required and regulated by law, and it is important that you work with a knowledgeable expert to ensure you are adhering to the latest codes from the National Fire Protection Association and will pass inspections. Intrusion detection systems are important for administrative buildings and classrooms or laboratories that contain valuable equipment and protected information. For both fire and intrusion systems, the ability to communicate to a central station via IP is increasingly being sought after by universities. IP uses existing Internet or intranet structures to speed communications with the central station and helps reduce costs by eliminating the phone lines traditionally used for these communications. Many universities are also using networked video surveillance technology, commonly called IP video, in order to gain flexibility in how video is reviewed or in the ability to expand a system to accommodate future construction plans. When evaluating your options for recording IP video, look for ways to increase reliability, such as recording at the edge, where the storage for video recording resides just at the edge of the network and video does not have to traverse the network in order to be recorded. Multiple cameras and video encoders can share storage on a local recording network, while the main university local area network or wide area network used for viewing and retrieval of video remains without any recording load. This approach makes recorded video immune from any main network failures or congestion. Additionally, the ability to control individual buildings and classrooms from a central location with networked access control systems is also becoming more popular among universities. This centralized control gives administrators, security or facilities personnel the ability to lock or unlock doors from one location. This feature serves as a convenience during off hours but is also an important capability for speeding response during emergency or lockdown situations. Many of these systems can be integrated to achieve efficiencies for operators and security personnel and automate certain tasks and responses to incidents. For example, when the fire alarm is pulled in a large residence hall or classroom building, emergency exits are instantly unlocked in all areas, and the voice evacuation system delivers clear instructions, specific to each floor, on exiting the building. As you begin to explore your options, keep in mind that the availability of these various technologies does not mean that they are all appropriate for every university. Each safety or security project should begin with a frank and thorough discussion of the university’s needs. It will help to seek out a security dealer or integrator in your area - such as Copp Systems Integrators, Northwestern Ohio Security Systems and SimplexGrinnell - that will have more detailed knowledge of concerns specific to your area. These dealers and integrators can help you design a system that best meets your university’s specific goals.

My expertise is in electronic security and safety technology and systems rather than the type provided by security personnel. That stated, these two components of physical security complement each other. Electronic systems can provide security personnel with the information they need to respond more effectively to situations when they do arise. Whether it’s on technical systems or specific to the tasks carried out by personnel, training is always important in this industry. In emergency situations, well-trained security personnel are usually more efficient and deliver greater value to the community they serve. However, there are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to arm security personnel, and you may want to carry out a risk assessment to determine if that is an appropriate decision for your college -- involving local authorities, insurance carriers, human resources personnel and college board members in those discussions.

In most cases, products from different manufacturers can be programmed to work together using software development kits, application programming interfaces, or relays and ASCII commands. As manufacturers move toward greater use of standards, some of the technological roadblocks to this integration are being removed. However, integration can be much easier with products from a single manufacturer, as these systems are often designed to work together and may offer integration capabilities that can’t be achieved with devices from two separate providers. Also, over time, most users wish to expand their access control systems from the original design. A benefit when purchasing an integrated system from one manufacturer is that you only need to place a single phone call to get technical support for expanding your system. If you choose to use access and video products from a single manufacturer, make sure the provider has built simplicity into the installation process, such as easy configuration menus and information import/export tools that use common file formats. These types of features can help to simplify the programming necessary for useful integration.