Team Domenica Security Policy

Security (Invacuation, Lockdown and Evacuation) Policy

Author: Sara Fletcher (Education and Quality Lead)
Consulted: Tim Drew (Co-CEO), Lisa Campbell Squires (Co-CEO), Bekki Lindores (Head of Hospitality), Phoebe Smith (Café Training Lead), Joel Goss (Coffee Manager), Georgia Stedman-Pink (Enrichment Lead), Allie Sutton (Day Service Manager), Deborah Rayner Grey (Pastoral Lead), Beverly Rosling (HR Manager).

Date last reviewed: August 2025
Renewal due: August 2026 (or earlier if provision moves to our new site)

Contents of this Policy

Legal Framework
Related Policies
Policy Framework
Introduction
Definitions
Security Threats
Basic Procedures
Example Scenarios
Support for Individuals
Post Incident Actions
Appendices

Legal Framework

This policy has due regard to all relevant legislation and statutory guidance including, but not limited to, the following:

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
DfE (2014) ‘Fire safety in new and existing school buildings’
DfE (2023) ‘School and college security’
DfE (2022) ‘Health and safety: responsibilities and duties for schools’
DfE (2023) ‘Emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children’s social care settings’
DfE (2024) ‘Protective security and preparedness for education settings’
At the Point at which we move provision to our new premises due regard will be made to “Martyn’s Law” Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025

Related Policies

Safeguarding
Candidate Risk Management
Online Safety
Mental Capacity
Policy for the promotion of positive relationships and behaviour
Fire Evacuation Policy
Health and Safety Policy

Policy Framework

This policy applies to:

All those directly employed by Team Domenica and interact with, work alongside or in proximity to the candidates.

All those indirectly engaged by Team Domenica by virtue of being sub-contracted or commissioned and paid by Team Domenica to carry out work on behalf of Team Domenica and where such work causes them to interact with, work alongside or in proximity to our candidates. This also means those working in volunteer or student placement activities.

All employees in Team Domenica have a responsibility to:

Take reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety.

Co-operate with their employer as far as is necessary to enable compliance with the above duties.

Carry out activities in accordance with training and instruction, including recording and reporting, accurately and in a timely manner.

Inform the employer of any serious risk evident in any setting at Team Domenica or emergent from individual circumstances.

Proactively participate in a positive and empowering culture, sharing a flexible, creative approach that exposes candidates to the managed risk necessary for their growth and development and be open to reflection and learning from experience.

All managers are responsible for ensuring staff are made aware of this policy and guidance, and for monitoring their safe and proper conduct whilst interacting with or in proximity to candidates, and for taking such action as necessary to prevent any risk of harm due to failure to follow this policy.

Introduction

All those working at Team Domenica, including trustees, senior managers, managers, teachers, mentors and café staff, are committed to a robust culture of safeguarding and risk management. We place the wellbeing and security of candidates, staff, visitors and partners at the centre of our planning and thinking. A balanced, appropriate and evidenced-based approach to risk supports our primary task of moves our candidates to greater autonomy, independence and participation in work and in the community, and upholds the rights of all adults to live a life free from harm.

The main purpose of the Security (Invacuation, Lockdown and Evacuation) Policy is to outline Team Domenica’s agreed responses to a security threat made to our premises and provision. In an emergency, staff members will endeavour to take all reasonable actions to ensure the safety of candidates and visitors while maintaining their right to keep themselves safe.

This policy cannot outline all scenarios and provide detailed responses each as the physical and human variables are too wide in scope. Instead, this policy is designed to set out a set of responsibilities, procedures, resources and support within which staff should work proportionally and dynamically. Dynamic risk assessment is discussed in the Team Domenica Candidate Risk Assessment Policy.

It is not the scope of this policy to outline Team Domenica’s approach to General Health and Safety, Building Risk Assessments, Fire Safety and Evacuation or Business Contingency. These vital areas of work all have separate policies managed by our operations team.

This policy should be read alongside our wider suite of policies on relationships, wellbeing and safeguarding for a comprehensive picture of how we facilitate safe learning and development for our candidates while empowering them to make choices in all that impacts on them. The purpose of this document is to provide a guide to the procedures appertaining to personal and building security risks.

Please note-over the 2025-26 academic year Team Domenica will be opening provision at Pavilion Buildings , our new site in the City Centre. Currently we are developing plans for the unique security issues related to this building due to its capacity and location, and this may require more complex multiagency working. An update to this policy, including a more substantial training plan, will be issued at the time at which the venue opens. Until this time those staff and contractors on site will work to the general principals of this policy. When this main site is operational Team Domenica will sign up to National Security Alerts and local protocols.

Definitions

The term ‘evacuation’ refers to the orderly removal of everyone from the school building; this can be as a result of a fire or other incident within the building.

The term ‘invacuation’ refers to keeping everyone inside the school building to ensure their safety from an internal or external incident which has the potential to pose a threat to their safety and wellbeing, e.g. toxic fumes in the air.

The term ‘lockdown’ refers to the procedure of locking external doors and windows before taking immediate shelter in a secure location. This procedure is typically invoked as a response to a security threat.

Security Threats

This policy is written to respond to the following types of threats; however, it is essential to note that such threats are inherently unpredictable with many variables, so it is not intended that this list is exhaustive.

A threat to the structural integrity of a building regardless of cause
Bomb threats
Chemical Spillages
Toxic gases
Civil Disturbances
Intruders

Basic Procedures

The member of staff who is first aware of any of the above threats, or a related threat of the same type is the “first alerter”. The responsibilities of the first alerter are:

Take immediate action to safeguard those in the vicinity, including themselves. This includes the sounding of alarms, communicating with colleagues, and dynamically assessing the need to communicate or intervene with candidates, the public and any other partners/stakeholders immediately affected
Ensure that the emergency services are called if necessary
Inform the senior leadership team/ safeguarding team of the incident

The manager receiving any such report must assume the role of Event Manager or quickly, clearly and justifiably delegate this role to another person, and record their reasons for doing so. In some cases, such in the workplaces or our satellite centres the first alerted may need to undertake the role of Event Manager.

The Event Manager must:

Consider the need to inform the joint CEOs. In the event of the involvement of the security or emergency services, or an immediate or present threat of serious harm to staff or candidates this must happen without delay, unless the delay raises risk.
Ensure the following roles are covered, more than one role can be undertaken by a single person and in the case of our satellite centres some roles may be undertaken by staff from that site, with Team Domenica staff focusing on the welfare of and communication with candidates.
- - Liaison with security / emergency services
  - Liaison within the site of the incident
  - Liaison with parents
  - Liaison with other stakeholders and the community
  - Direct supervision and oversite of candidates
  - An accurate timeline and record of events is kept
Make a reasonable and proportionate decision on the suspension of other provision within Team Domenica to ensure the correct resource is available to manage any incident

The management of any critical or serious emergency or security threat must not be assumed to be purely the responsibility of the safeguarding team.

Once the emergency services have responded to an incident all managers must follow their guidance until such time the threat has been removed.

Example Scenarios

While specific scenarios cannot be outlined in this policy there are certain fundamental procedures that should be the basis of responses to specific scenarios:

A threat to the structural integrity of a building regardless of cause: Unless it is unsafe to do so, or emergency services instruct otherwise, Evacuation Procedures must be followed
Bomb threats: If the threat is of a bomb is inside the building Evacuation Procedures must be followed. If the threat is outside of the building, then staff and candidates should follow the guidance of the emergency services
Chemical Spillages: If the threat is inside the building Evacuation Procedures must be followed UNLESS the hazard is present on the normal evacuation route. In which case the alarm must not be sounded, and alternate egress must be considered. If the threat is outside of the building, then staff and candidates should follow the guidance of the emergency services
Toxic gases: If the threat is inside the building Evacuation Procedures must be followed UNLESS the hazard is present on the normal evacuation route. In which case the alarm must not be sounded, and alternate egress must be considered. If the threat is outside of the building, then staff and candidates should follow the guidance of the emergency services
Civil Disturbances: Staff should consider Invacuation procedures and advise candidates and the public to stay within the building
Intruders: Staff should consider invacuation and lock down procedures as a first response. At some sites (especially the coffee roastery) evacuation might be the more appropriate response.

Support for Individuals

Team Domenica works with candidates who have Education, Health and Care Plans outlining their additional needs. Often these additional needs include those related to sensory perception, emotional dysregulation and anxiety. These create an additional level of risk in an unpredicted, emergency or security incident both for the individual involved, and for those around them. Steps to mitigate such risks for individuals are included in our Individual Risk assessments, Risk Assessment Policy, Policy for Positive Behaviour and Relationships and our Individual Emergency Evacuation plans. As all these plans are evidence-based they cannot hypotheses the response of any individual, candidate, staff, or member of the public to an extreme event.

Team Domenica has a robust Relationships, Health and Sex Education programme and within this personal safety is a key theme. From September 2025 Run Hide and Tell resources will be discussed at the whole staff safeguarding update and included within the candidate induction week and as part of our Relationship, Sex and Health Education provision.

No member of staff is ever asked to put themselves at risk to protect another person.

Post Incident Actions

All incidents will be recorded within our safeguarding portal, My Concern.

Team Domenica will conduct post-incident evaluations and hold a full debrief where feedback is obtained from all the key people involved. Team Domenica will use these post-incident actions to inform what measures need to be taken to support victims and learn from anything that could have been improved should such an incident occur again.

Team Domenica’s plans will be amended appropriately to consider the emotional and mental impact on candidates, parents and staff members following an incident. Appropriate types of support for the wellbeing of all will be sourced and made available.

Following an occurrence necessitating the implementation of an emergency procedure, the following actions will be taken:

A follow-up debrief with staff members and candidates will be delivered by the principal or the pastoral lead .
Support will be sought where necessary, for example, from counselling services
Parents and other stakeholders will be informed via letter
The response to the crisis will be evaluated and procedures amended where necessary
Team Domenica’s Business Continuity Plan will be activated to help restore normality following an incident

Appendices - Site Specific Circumstances

Provision at Team Domenica is split across several sites and this is a central part of our offer: we recognise that the more contexts our candidates can learn, work and interact in, the more successful their learning and the more core skills around communication, prosocial behaviour, independence and confidence are integrated and retained. The benefits of this, therefore, far outweigh any risks. However, it does mean that there cannot be an overarching procedure for all sites. This includes all staff at sites being mindful of individual risk assessments (including any medication candidates may carry), the specific risk assessments or arrangement for any activities or environments and the availability of working, charged telephones with all necessary contacts.

The core principles in this policy should be applied in all circumstances but some considerations for each site are noted below:

Workplace Settings

When a candidate is a work place setting ( Work experience, Supported Internship, Voluntary Work) it is the responsibility of the Head of Supported Employment to ensure that processes are in place for staff and candidates to have read and understood all relevant polices and that appropriate risk assessments are in place. For job coaches and other Team Domenica Staff in external workplaces their first consideration in the safety of candidates and themselves and other roles listed on (PAGE?) above should be the responsibility of the employer.

Enrichment

Enrichment currently occurs at One Church in Brighton.

Evacuation – there is an evacuation system and alarm. Staff and candidates practice evacuation termly.

Invacuation and Lockdown – Team Domenica have capacity to secure the internal and external door to the enrichment room to create a safe space. Alternatively, the internal door can be used to facilitate access to other areas of One Church.

The Enrichment Lead is responsible for liaising with One Church to ensure compliance with their existing policies and procedures.

When the enrichment activities happen in the community all relevant policies and procedures produced by the provider should be considered in any risk assessment and candidates and staff should follow the guidance of the provider in the event of any serious incident.

Plus X

Team Domenica runs a café service within the co working space known as Plus X in Brighton’s university area on the Lewes Road. The café is on the ground floor of the building with a public entrance. For incidents relating to the integrity and safety of the building or surrounding area Team Domenica staff should liaise with reception staff and building managers at Plus X. The primary task of all staff working at Plus X is the safety of candidates and colleagues. Any Team Domenica staff member working on this site should support café staff during any incidents. A secondary task for all staff is to secure resources and cash. The Head of Hospitality is responsible for effective liaison with Plus X and ensuring their internal policies are made known to Team Domenica. This includes identifying accessible safe spaces for lock down.

Jubilee Library

Team Domnica runs the café within Jubilee Library, which is the central Library within Brighton and Hove and is run by the local authority. Brighton and Hove work in partnership with the Keir Group for security arrangements. Security staff are on site and the guidance that has been issued is appended to this policy. The primary task of all staff working at Plus X is the safety of candidates and colleagues. Any Team Domenica staff member working on this site should support café staff during any incidents. A secondary task for all staff is to secure resources and cash. The Head of Hospitality is responsible for effective liaison with library staff and The Keir Group and ensuring their internal policies are made known to Team Domenica. This includes identifying accessible safe spaces for lock down.

Preston Road

Preston Road is the main training site for Team Domenica and consists of a café and reception downstairs and two classrooms and an office upstairs. The site has two doors that open onto the street, which is at a reasonably busy interchange. The café is open to the public from Mon-Fri: 8.30am-4.00pm & Sat: 8:30am-3pm. Candidates are training the café from 9-3 Monday-Friday.
There is a well-established evacuation alarm which is practised regularly
There is a whistle which is used to signal invacuation and drills for this are planned for 2025/6
Walky-talky radios are used to alert for a lockdown with drills planned for 2025/6
Lockdown zones are: The food preparation room, the kitchen porter area downstairs, these are to have fans kept in them at all times. The small classroom is the refuge upstairs.

Coffee Roastery

Our coffee roastery is in a small private mews in a comparatively quiet area of town. There is some CCTV on site. The main feature of this site is the intricate and labyrinthine nature of the building. Both spaces used by Team Domenica have main doors open to the mews and back doors leading to another residential street. Those staff who know the site well (DS manager, Coffee Manger DS TMs) and those who have keys have a range of options for either evacuating away from risk or seeking refuge in an alternate part of the building. Specific procedures are noted below and in these COFFEE LEAD refers to the Coffee Manager

Invacuation:

Not roasting:

All doors are generally locked except for the front door – if needed, staff would lock the front door from the inside and move everyone into the breakroom; candidates and staff would not be visible from outside of the packing room
If we needed to evacuate from this situation, staff can lead candidates out of either the front door or the back door on to the street without being seen from the opposing side.

If roasting:

COFFEE LEAD would communicate with the other staff member using phones and depending on the situation, either get them to come and collect candidates from the roasting room and take them to the packaging room, going in and out of the most appropriate doors to the situation as the roasting and packing rooms can be accessed from both the road and the mews.
If leaving the roasting room was not an option, candidates would go into the roasting room office and hide out of sight – this office is not visible from the outside.

Evacuation: