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Housing

Safety and security

Safety is everyone's responsibility at NSCC. We have an Occupational Health & Safety Policy which extends to the NSCC campus community.

Safety and security in campus housing

Features

Our campus housing buildings are equipped with a variety of tools and systems to keep students safe throughout the year and feature the following:

  • All buildings are secure access.
    • Doors are equipped with proximity-access readers which only unlock the main doors of their building, their student suite, and their bedroom (if in a multiple bedroom suite).
  • Automatically locking suite and bedroom doors.
  • All buildings have surveillance cameras in a variety of non-intrusive common areas.
  • All buildings are equipped with smoke and heat detectors, fire extinguishers, and alarms.
  • All buildings are equipped with Situational Awareness and Response Assistant (SARA). SARA is an automated emergency alert system used at all NSCC campuses. It provides emergency call tools for fire, lockdown, medical and security situations.
    • Blue pull stations in each suite and common areas for medical or security needs.
    • Yellow pull stations for lockdown situations located in common areas.
    • Red pull stations for fire-related emergencies.

Initiatives

We take proactive measures to support the safety of our students within campus housing buildings, including:

  • Community Assistants regularly make rounds during their shifts
  • On-call number for campus housing staff for emergencies
  • Comprehensive guest policy
  • 24/7 professional staff for on-call response to emergency situations
  • 24/7 campus security
  • Regular fire tests and drills to evaluate emergency preparedness

Reminders

Our technology and proactive measures cannot ensure the safety of our campus housing students on its own. The daily actions and steps taken by students is also critical to overall safety on campus. Discuss these measures with your student to help keep them and other students safe:

  • Do not prop doors and ensure bedroom/suite doors are closed.
  • Do not let people ‘tailgate’ into the building. If you don’t know them, ask them to swipe in.
  • Ensure your guests are not wandering freely. You are responsible for their actions and should escort them throughout the building.
  • Let a community assistant or security know if something isn’t right.

Safety and security in off-campus housing

It is the students’ responsibility to ensure they are doing all they can to protect themselves in off-campus housing. We have a detailed module within our Living in Nova Scotia Guide about how to live safely in your community. We encourage students to learn what is needed and to seek support when necessary.

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