After hundreds of years of being intimately acquainted with the risks facing their clients, insurers have played a vital, if somewhat hidden role in raising safety standards worldwide. Modern insurance grew out of the ashes of the Great Fire of London in 1666 and those early insurers were instrumental in establishing the first Fire Brigades, mandating the installation of fire escapes and later fire alarms and sprinkler systems.

In addition to physical measures, improving safety also relies heavily on understanding behaviours, especially in emergency situations, and implementing best practice accordingly. However, when new risks emerge, it can take time to gather the data needed to fully understand them, why they occur and formulate strategies to minimise them.

In the U.S., school shootings have been a known risk for some time, yet their recent increase has contributed to the staggering fact that firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens in America. While mass shootings are also increasing in other soft target locations, such as shopping malls and hospitals, sadly schools remain the most likely places they will occur.

There are many aspects to consider when contemplating how society could better address this terrible threat. A concerted, collaborative effort will be needed to bring about meaningful change and insurers have a part to play in that. In the great tradition of insurer-initiated safety innovation, we will soon be visiting schools, first in North Carolina, to identify what the ideal pre-emptive measures and best practice should be, in discussion with school principals, parents, school safety officers, representatives of local sheriff’s and governor’s offices and crisis-response specialists.

This is an important first step as, while federal government issues guidance, it is at a local state level where measures are implemented, or not. Exploring ideas and examining current practices, which often involve locking children in classrooms — sometimes with tragic consequences — will be part of those conversations. For example, considering most classrooms are on the ground-floor exterior of school buildings, while corridors are on the interior, could this be a potential escape route for children? And with doors locked behind them, might this create a barrier between them and the assailant?

This exercise, we hope, will contribute to better measures being implemented, resulting dramatically improved outcomes. I’m convinced too that raising awareness of the need for greater vigilance is also part of the solution. Perpetrators of these events have often been fighting inner demons for some time and feel isolated, which can be evident in their behaviour. For example, posting questionable content on social media can be a classic but commonly missed tell-tale sign.

Part of the solution then, having observed unsettling behaviour or speech, is knowing who to speak to about it. While obviously it is undesirable to have a society where people constantly inform on one another, at the other extreme there have been times where concerns have been raised but not correctly investigated, with catastrophic consequences.

Addressing the reasons why mass shootings occur and how to prevent them raises many complex issues and challenges but during the coming months that is what we will attempt to do. If children can be trained how to react in the event of a fire, earthquake or hurricane, they can be trained how to act in an active assailant situation. But first we must ask difficult questions, have the debate and deeply consider what best practice looks like, with the aim and hope that implementing recommendations from that will prevent further senseless tragedy.

If you have had any experience of devising or delivering effective active assailant risk management strategies for schools, I would love to hear from you chris.kirby@optiogroup.com