It’s like clockwork. If an electric company payment office receives a threat, the water company office across town calls to look into getting a bullet resistant barrier. If there’s a school shooting anywhere, Total Security Solutions starts getting inquiries about installing bulletproof vestibules from schools nationwide. A bomb is mailed …
Today Total Security Solutions is a major nationwide bullet resistant barrier component manufacturer—but that wasn’t always the case. TSS started out exclusively sub-contracting, supplying contractors and glaziers. Although TSS does a great deal of “tier 1” direct client work now, roughly 60 percent of their business is still in subcontracting. …
Crime can happen anywhere, making employee safety a top priority for many business owners. This past winter, a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting in front of the Delonis Center, an Ann Arbor, Michigan homeless shelter, served as a wake-up call for neighborhood business owners. The bullet hit the window of a …
Working so closely with government agencies has given the TSS design team a rare opportunity to hone their skills guiding government clients to the right system for their facility. As Bob George explains, “Many government clients come in saying hey, we want Level 8, we want the highest. We get that all the time, and then you have to talk them down. The fact is, we very rarely do anything above Level 5. Level 3 is realistic for most government barrier systems.
TSS’s thermally improved, Kevlar-reinforced bullet resistant exterior aluminum door and window frame system is calculated to optimize R value, given the needs of a bullet resistant materials. It offers bullet resistance up through UL Level 8, and can accommodate a wide variety of acrylic, polycarbonate, and laminated bullet resistant glazings. “It’s an enormous performance boost, in terms of energy, and ballistic—a true ‘best of both worlds’ scenario.”
Once the plan is squared away and approved in writing, the process rolls very smoothly. All TSS bullet resistant barrier systems and components are fabricated on-site). In order to assure tight tolerances among all of a barrier’s components, TSS relies on a highly tech-driven engineering workflow.
“People end up with this impression that every crime in this country is committed with an assault rifle. Throughout 2015 the big news items included several major public shootings, a lot of protests, and big terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere. In the last six months we’ve seen a significant increase in people looking to go past the standard Level 3 barrier systems, asking for Level 4, 5, 6, and 7 protection. That’s a significant expense—and in every case so far, totally uncalled for.”
Facility Managers have a lot to worry about. On the one hand, you need to reduce costs while adding value to every property you manage. On the other, FMs must be diligent about maintenance and safety. Whether the building is a sports arena, a university dormitory, a library, or a light …
Life safety is top of mind for any facility manager or administrator, and even more so for those in healthcare. Hospitals and clinics can be high risk workplaces that pose threats from needle sticks, slippery floors, heavy lifting, and disoriented patients. But hospitals are also an increasingly violent place to work, …
Healthcare projects pose a unique, interlocking set of challenges for architects. Some the challenges include complex HVAC requirements, strict regulations and ongoing operational cost containment. These challenges are compounded by limited access to capital—which often falls short when it comes to executing the best engineering solutions. And that’s just the physical systems; …