New school employees bring a very important asset that seasoned school team members may not see: a fresh set of eyes.

Why is that important? As a way to gain perspective and to learn their new role, they often ask questions such as “Why is that work done that way?” Or, “Has this method ever been tried or proven?”

Their perceptions, input, and suggestions can often make a difference in whether your school is safe and secure, or not. They might see gaps in procedures or protocols that you never saw or believed could exist.

A school safety consultant can do the same thing. They can look at your school safety plan and emergency procedures from a new point of view and help you to identify gaps or even provide a better way of doing things.

A safety consultant will also have experiences and perspective from other schools, some of which may have already experienced and solved school safety or security problems similar to yours. Outside professionals can bring their knowledge to you to help expedite the creation of effective solutions.

These professionals will also have a new network of resources for you to consult. They will be able to bring a completely new set of contacts and connections that can be leveraged, like subject matter experts, security integrators, and more.

They will also ask new and different questions to help stimulate your decision-making process. Their quest to gain perspective will prompt your team to think about its own responses and possibly have “ah-ha” moments related to situations.

For many, it can be challenging to know where to begin to find a security consultant. Resources such as the SilverShield HR and Safety Resource Center can make the connection with a security consultant to provide guidance in determining the best solution for each individual situation. Consultants begin by conducting a security assessment to identify and minimize security vulnerabilities. That information enables them to develop an individualized security plan to keep your personnel, property and assets safe and secure.

For those organizations that have already completed a security assessment and have a security plan in place, the center can also help ensure that your staff is properly trained in executing your plans. This includes enabling clients to include comprehensive lessons and quizzes to ensure that each staff member has full mastery of the plan and their responsibilities.

In any school, it’s tough to maintain a balanced perspective about school security processes and procedures that you’ve spent years tackling. Sometimes it is difficult to stay objective and see the big picture. A school security consultant can offer an impartial, objective perspective and help identify safety and security tools that are necessary to keep your students, staff and visitors safe.

Learn more about the SILVERSHIELD Visitor Management System.

Robin Baker

Robin Baker oversees the design and development of SilverShield, a cloud-based Visitor & Emergency Management System, and was also instrumental in ARMS, an anti-piracy security application for the safety of ships and crews at sea. In addition, Robin was also the founder of Learning Today, now known as iReady. Robin works with Schools, as well as Security and Software Development Teams internationally to improve the safety and security of schools today. American Heritage School of Plantation and Boca/Delray has adopted SilverShield and can speak about its effectiveness on their campus as well.