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Risk assessment of high schools in Lebanon for potential terrorist threat

Mohamad K. Naja (Department of Civil Engineering, The Lebanese University, Tripoli, Lebanon)
Hoda Baytiyeh (Department of Education, The American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon)

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment

ISSN: 1759-5908

Article publication date: 14 November 2016

153

Abstract

Purpose

Terrorist attacks on schools and colleges have disrupted educational processes and caused fear, deaths and tragedies. Considering the recent increase in terrorist attacks on educational facilities in different parts of the world, vulnerability and risk assessments have assumed crucial importance in the design and evaluation of mitigation plans to reduce the traumatic impacts of such events. This paper aims to assess the vulnerability and risk of Lebanese high school assets to terrorism.

Design/methodology/approach

Through site visits to various high schools in Lebanon, the authors evaluated specific features common in the majority of Lebanese high schools and identified six categories of schools. Using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA 428) guidelines, one high school from each category was surveyed and analysed.

Findings

The results reveal a relatively high vulnerability to and risk of the threat of terrorism and a lack of protective plans and mitigation measures to minimise this risk among the majority of the investigated high school facilities.

Originality/value

This paper should alert school administrators, public leaders and government officials regarding the terrorist threats and their subsequent effects on the structural safety of school buildings in Lebanon. The risk assessment of schools to terrorism has rarely been performed or even discussed in the Lebanese-related literature.

Keywords

Citation

Naja, M.K. and Baytiyeh, H. (2016), "Risk assessment of high schools in Lebanon for potential terrorist threat", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 460-471. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-07-2015-0037

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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