Safety considerations for the protection of tall buildings from attack – Part II

Safety considerations for the protection of tall buildings from attack - Part II. Safety experts have known since before the 11 September 2001 that fires or the collapse of skyscrapers are the worst possible catastrophes. How big is the risk that something similar happens again? Have we prepared ourselves well enough to protect the thousands of people in tall buildings? GIT SECUITY has reopened this discussion in the light of recent events and analyses the risks and preventative measures for its readers. The second and concluding part of this article that we started in our last issue outlines how risks can be minimised.

People have a fundamental need for safety, and those that live and work in skyscrapers put their trust in the special security and safety measures that are in place. But according to the view of AZT experts, safety concepts for skyscrapers can only „reduce the dangers [for people] as much as possible“.

Rescue systems must be developed that also permit fire-fighting and evacuation in a skyscraper under difficult conditions. Safety requirements today, according to the AZT report, are based on assumptions that did not consider scenarios such as New York, so risk assessments must be extended.

AZT experts also recommend, amongst other things, equipping the bearer construction of future skyscrapers with increased fire resistance, developing early warning systems to reduce reaction time in an emergency and providing the technical platform to rescue people from all floors.

Redefining Building Protection

Fire protection but also building security has become significantly more important in recent years in view of the anxiety caused by worldwide bombing terror. Starting with protection of the perimeter (i.e. the grounds should be fenced, suitably lit, patroled and protected by a video camera system), employees and visitors enter the building via a modern access control system where turnstiles perform personnel verification; entry/exit readers provide presence logging.

All security-relevant alarms appear on the security staff central workstation where interactive icons with building graphics make the job easier. Frequently reoccurring routine jobs like opening barriers, enabling deliveries or controling elevators are done at a master desk. A particular weak spot is the underground garage; the access ramp and those driving in and out should be monitored closely because of possible attack using a vehicle transporting large amounts of explosive or incendiary material.

In particularly sensitive cases, an underground garage should not be used. New technology for fire protection or building protection and the raising of awareness since „nine eleven“ can all help to ensure the safety of working and living in skyscrapers.

Experts Advise

Interior Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble said in his speech to the German Bundestag on fighting terrorism: „Not only the suitcase bombs or the plans to attack London show that the efforts for security against the dangers of international terrorism are on the list of political priorities. There can certainly be no one hundred percent safety, but this does not release us from the responsibility of doing everything humanly possible. The most important instrument to prevent attacks is to know in advance what the plans are. For this reason, information is the most important preventative tool when hindering attacks and ensuring safety“.

GIT SECURITY asked Senior Fire Officer Klaus Tönnes, preventative fire safety officer at Fire Brigade HQ in Frankfurt, about the safety of skyscrapers here and for his advice to the operators of tall buildings. He explained: „We had to rethink preventative fire protection in tall buildings after the 11 September attacks. Constructional fire protection must be comprehensively supported by appropriate fire protection technology and organization to give the fire brigades a real chance. If a building is attacked from inside, a number of factors play a significant role, among them time, communication between the emergency services coupled with the exchange of information with those people in the building who cannot rescue themselves, together with a permanent water supply for the fire brigade. Precise planning however only leads to success in emergency situations if the weakest elements, human beings, don‘t upset things by unconsidered actions and behavior. The MHHR (basic skyscraper recommendations) are being updated by an Argebau project group. The most important aspects are:

• early recognition of fires, 
• automatic alarming of the floor where the fire has broken out, 
• automatic forwarding of the alarm to the fire brigade, 
• quick self-rescue from the building, 
• sufficiently long prevention of the spread of fire and 
• rapid access for the fire brigade to the fire location. 

Escape route planning must function faultlessly for the effective evacuation of a skyscraper. This can be achieved by setting up a succession of rooms from the vertical to the horizontal routes that meet structured safety requirements – like a ‚safety cascade‘. To prevent the ingress of fire and smoke to the inner vertical escape routes, and to keep these useable as long as possible, they are each assigned anterooms that become part of the vertical escape systems that are ventilated with pressurised air.

Only essential corridors and stairwells are connected to these anterooms. A fire brigade elevator must be included in future, above the height defined as a tall building (floor height 22 m), to ensure that the firemen‘s approach route to the fire can be quickly reached.“

We also consulted terrorism expert General (ret‘d) Ulrich K. Wegener, Chairman of the Security Council of Kötter Security, on the same subject with regard to his assessment of the current situation and the correct approach to protecting skyscrapers. Wegener told GIT SECURITY: „Wherever large numbers of people congregate, for example in high buildings, we must also assume the risk of attack along with the general dangers. Security management, as part of facility management, must therefore be equipped for the whole spectrum of dangers, using comprehensive technology and trained, experienced personnel as necessary so that efficient system solutions meet all customer requirements. An individual mix will provide the optimum integration of security, cleaning, personnel and other building services. This is a classic field for a modern security provider that can provide singlesource security“.

Prevention Minimizes Risks

International terrorism has certainly also reached Germany, shown by the attempted attacks on regional transport. There are still many weak points throughout Europe that could be attacked. These developments are taking place against a background of strenuous German efforts in the fight against terror but also because of a growing potential for violence worldwide and increasing national and international mobility.

100,000 passenger movements between the EU and the USA every day, millions of border crossings every year at the - comparatively small - outer Schengen borders of Germany, well over 100 million border crossings without any checks at the inner Schengen borders of the European Union show just how mobile we now are. But therein lay dangers because essentially any terrorist moderately trained in technology or science can bring down almost any building in the world or set it on fire.

As criminals will try first where it‘s easiest, all operators of tall buildings should regularly update their security and fire prevention plans with fire protection officers, qualified security services and the police advisory services and minimise the risk of terrorist attack by the application of a network of preventative security measures.

Heiner Jerofsky,
Dipl. Admin., Criminal Advisory Committee (ret‘d)