Terrorism prevention, preparedness, and response in built facilities

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the risk management, crisis management and business continuity management (BCM) practices of facilities managers responsible for a range of major public and private buildings in Sydney, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

The research method involved a survey of facilities managers responsible for the management of 27 potentially vulnerable buildings in the Sydney metropolitan area, Australia.

Findings

The results suggest that facilities managers under estimate the vulnerability of buildings to terrorist attack, may have a misconception about likely targets and may be unprepared for such an eventuality.

Research limitations/implications

These findings are restricted to the restricted sample of facilities managers interviewed who were responsible for a range of major public and private buildings in Sydney, Australia.

Practical implications

Highlights the security responsibilities of facilities managers in the new security environment and practical measures which can be taken to improve terrorism preparedness, recovery and response.

Originality/value

Buildings, infrastructure and public spaces have increasingly become the focus of terrorist attacks. Yet little is known about the level of preparedness to deal with this eventuality. This paper presents a critique of the literature on terrorism applied to building facilities, integrating the literature on crisis management, BCM and risk management.

Citation

Khiun Then, S. and Loosemore, M. (2006), "Terrorism prevention, preparedness, and response in built facilities", Facilities, Vol. 24 No. 5/6, pp. 157-176. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632770610665766