Lockdown

A preventive lockdown is a preemptive action plan implemented to address an unusual scenario or a weakness in system to preempt any danger to ensure the safety and security of people, organisation and system. The focus for preventive actions is to avoid dangers and risks arising from the nonconformances to the normal circumstances, but also commonly includes improvements in efficiency.

Preventive lockdowns are preemptive lockdowns to mitigate risk. Most organisations plan for the emergency lockdowns but fail to plan for other situations that might quickly degrade to dangerous levels. These protocols must be based on the type of threat, and should be kept simple and short for quick learning and implementation, and flexible enough to handle several scenarios. This allows administrators more options to choose from which are easier to use in various scenarios. For example, in case of a loud scene by a parent or an unarmed petty thief being chased by the police through the school playground, this flexible procedure allows school administrators the flexibility to implement a more limited lockdown while teaching in school continues, thus eliminating need for complete emergency lockdown, disruption and delays in resumption of teaching, etc. The consequences of not having procedures to implement such lockdowns is that the situation might quickly escalate where there could be loss of human lives.[1]

Emergency lockdowns are implemented when there is imminent threat to the lives or risk of injury to humans, for example, a school's emergency lockdown procedures must be kept short and simple to make them easier to use under real life crisis conditions. Simple procedures can be easily taught with periodic lockdown drills instead of lengthy training.[1]

Police conversing with people during a lockdown in Benidorm, Spain

Lockdowns can limit movements or activities in a community while allowing most organizations to function normally, or limit movements or activities such that only organizations supplying basic needs and services can function normally.[2]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term lockdown was used for actions related to mass quarantines or stay-at-home orders.[3] By early April 2020, 3.9 billion people worldwide were under some form of lockdown—more than half the world's population.[4][5] By late April, around 300 million people were under lockdown in nations of Europe, while around 200 million people were under lockdown in Latin America.[6] Nearly 300 million people, or about 90 per cent of the population, were under some form of lockdown in the United States,[7] and 1.3 billion people have been under lockdown in India.[8]

The lockdown in the Philippines started on 14 March 2020 and is one of the longest and strictest lockdowns with varying levels of Community Quarantine being imposed on all major islands and cities.[9][10] Similarly the lockdown in South Africa started on 27 March 2020[11] and progressed through various levels. It is also one of the strictest lockdowns in the world with cigarettes and alcohol banned throughout.[12]

Lockdowns could be implemented in the near future in response to the effects of climate change.[13] Measures taken under a "climate lockdown" could include governments limiting the use of private vehicles, banning consumption of red meat, imposing energy conservation measures, and forcing fossil fuel companies to stop drilling.[13]

Lockdown procedures vary by site and country. Generally, a lockdown means that interior and exterior doors are locked, and all students and staff must remain in their location from the time the lockdown is announced. In some locations, windows are covered, and students stand at the back of the classroom or away from windows.

Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, lockdown procedures in schools have been changing. Some schools direct teachers to continue with standard procedures while remaining quiet, while some recommend an active approach against threats.[14]

In prisons, the term lockdown can be defined as a course of action to control the movement of inmates. Confining all prisoners, except workers, to their cells until the end of the day is an example of a "lockdown period" in a corrections schedule. However a "full lockdown" is used when all prisoners are locked in their cells to prevent prison riots or unrest from spreading or during an emergency.[15]

In US guidelines, occasions for preventing entry into a hospital may include: power failure, earthquake, flooding, fire, bomb threat, hostage crisis and active shooter.[16][17] Occasions for preventing both entry and exit from a hospital may include: external contamination, civil disturbance and abduction of an infant or child.[16][17]

In manufacturing, the term lockdown event refers to a continuous improvement initiative in which manufacturing in a specific area (typically a cell or specific piece of machinery) is halted in order to contain, and determine, what are the issues that are preventing the manufacture of goods from meeting quality specifications. During the lockdown event a multi-disciplinary team reviews the specific area's manufacturing processes, tooling and machine condition, to find the root cause(s) of the problem(s). Once changes to the process, or machine repairs that may include adjustments or replacement are effected, a sample run is initiated and evaluated. If the results of the validation are within the required specifications, the area lockdown is lifted and production is resumed. Follow-up sampling is conducted subsequently to ensure continuity of the lockdown results.