Workplace Safety, Security Engineering, and Emergency Preparedness
Workplace safety, security engineering, and emergency preparedness treats the courthouse as a layered defense and a life-safety system. This exam tests whether you can specify engineering controls, screening, and emergency procedures that work together.
Core rules and concepts
- Layered security: site perimeter, building envelope, public lobby screening, secure corridors, courtroom, judge's chambers. Each layer has different access control.
- Screening: weapons screening at public entrance; x-ray and magnetometer; separate employee entrance with badge; loading dock control.
- Engineering: ballistic-resistant glazing at bench and public counter; forced-entry-resistant doors at secure perimeter; duress alarms; CCTV with retention; intercom.
- Emergency: evacuation and shelter-in-place; lockdown; continuity of operations; voice fire alarm; assembly areas away from glass.
- CPTED: natural surveillance, lighting, territorial reinforcement, maintenance.
Worked example
A public lobby has a 20-foot glass curtain wall facing the entrance. A vehicle-bomb threat requires standoff. If standoff is only 30 feet, use laminated glazing and bollards, and have a security engineer calculate blast load. Do not accept a generic “security glass” label; require test data and anchorage design.
Traps that cost marks
- Designing screening without queuing space.
- Putting duress alarms only at the bench.
- Assuming fire alarm and lockdown can share the same notification.
- Ignoring mailroom, loading dock, and garage as threat entry points.