Building Safety Captains

Most buildings at Durham Tech are currently assigned a Building Safety Captain. These individuals are your colleagues who are trained to ensure the safety of their assigned buildings’ occupants. Building Safety Captains are trained to effectively assess situations and provide safety instruction and assistance to employees, students, and visitors.

Building Safety Captains will wear vests so that you can identify them.

Their authority extends to daily and emergency situations. These include fire and tornado drills, critical incidents, and other emergencies and similar occasions.

When they give instruction, everyone operating in the building must listen to those instructions. The Building Safety Captain is in charge of their building and the surrounding area and will be in charge of giving instructions until emergency personnel arrives.

Buildings without Building Safety Captains must refer to the Emergency Procedures book, which can be found in each building. If able, a nearby Building Safety Captain will come and assist after their building is attended to, but the Emergency Procedures book will be the first point of reference for these buildings.

Your Building Safety Captain knows the building’s layout, evacuation routes, and assembly areas to guide you and your colleagues and students to safety. When it is necessary to stay inside, the Building Safety Captain helps with the Shelter-in-Place procedure or with providing a safe haven.

They also can assist people with disabilities, know how to use a fire extinguisher, and know where to locate the building’s emergency equipment, supplies, and kits.

In addition, Building Safety Captains are responsible for making sure all new employees know the building’s emergency procedures and for reporting any possible hazard or suspicious activity to the appropriate party: Durham Tech Campus Police and Public Safety, Facility Services, or Safety Compliance.

Building Safety Captains operate under the Safety Officer’s authority according to the National Incident Command structure. The authority falls to the Durham Tech Chief of Police in the Safety Officer’s absence. Building Safety Captains may exercise emergency authority to prevent or stop unsafe acts when immediate action is required.