The document describes VISUS, a methodology developed by Prof. Stefano Grimaz for conducting rapid safety assessments of school facilities. VISUS uses visual inspections and standardized criteria to characterize safety issues, identify necessary interventions, and provide decision support for prioritizing safety upgrades. It has been applied to assess over 1,000 schools in Italy and test projects in El Salvador. VISUS aims to facilitate capacity building by pre-coding an expert's evaluation approach and provides multidimensional safety characterization to support administrators in defining effective risk reduction strategies.

1. SCHOOL SAFETY ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY: VISUS
Prof. Stefano Grimaz
SPRINT-Lab University of Udine (I)

2. OUTLINE
VISUS METHODOLOGY
2
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS APPLICATIONS
SCHOOL SAFETY

3. VISUS IN THE SCHOOL SAFETY PILLARS
3© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
©SPRINT-LabUniversityofUdine(I)
Decision
Making
Support
Safety
Upgrading
Strategies
ASSESSMENT & PLANNING
ROLE/CONTRIBUTES
SCHOOL SAFETY
THE THREE PILLARS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL SAFETY

4. 
4© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
SCHOOL SAFETY CONCERNS
WHICH SCHOOL NEEDS TO BE ADEQUATE FIRST?
WHY?
WHAT INTERVENTIONS ARE NECESSARY?
HOW MUCH DOES THE RETROFITTING COST?
HOW MANY INTERVENTIONS ARE FEASIBLE
WITH THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES?
HOW SHOULD WE COMMUNICATE
THE RISK LEVEL TO PEOPLE?
CONCERNS OF ADMINISTRATORS
“HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH”
TO KNOW FOR DEFINING WHAT IS
OPPORTUNE TO DO?
ASSESSMENT FOR
PLANNING

5. 
5© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
THE IDEA CODIFY THE EXPERT APPROACH
CHARACTERIZATION
GLOBAL
JUDGEMENT
EVALUTATION
REPORTING
MAIN ISSUES

6. 
6© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS THE EXPERT WORK PRECODIFIED
EVALUTATION
AUTOMATIC
STANDARDIZED
REPORTING
PRE-CODIFIED
CHARACTERIZATION
PRE-CODIFED
SUBSTANTIAL
ELEMENTARY
SCENARIOS
SAFETY
GLOBAL
JUDGEMENT
MAIN ISSUES
STRUCTURAL
PERFORMACE
CLASS
VISUS safety indicators
ROSE OF
INTERVENTION NEEDS
(WARNINGS NEEDLES)
WARNING
LEVEL
VISUS SURVEYOR
©SPRINT-LabUniversityofUdine(I)

7. 
7© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS FIRST APPLICATION (seismic safety) ASSESS PROJECT (NE ITALY)
Friuli Venezia Giulia
N-E of Italy
WHERE
1022
SCHOOLS
Various structural typologies
Different geological scenarios
Seismic Unitary Scenario
WHAT
PROJECT FOUNDED BY THE CIVIL PROTECTION
OF FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA REGION (I)
HOW

8. 
8© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
GIS - SCHOOLS ASSESS PROJECT (NE ITALY)
KKK
KKK

9. 
9© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
DECISION MAKING SUPPORT KEY ELEMENTS
K
WHICH SCHOOL NEEDS TO BE
ADEQUATE FIRST?
WHY?
WHAT KIND OF INTERVENTIONS
ARE NECESSARY?
HOW MUCH DOES THE RETROFITTING
COST?
HOW MANY INTERVENTIONS ARE
FEASIBLE WITH THE AVAILABLE
RESOURCES?
HOW SHOULD WE COMMUNICATE
THE RISK LEVEL TO PEOPLE?
CONCERNS OF
ADMINISTRATORS
KEY
ELEMENTS
FOR
ANSWERS
CHARACTERIZATION LIST OF THE SEISMIC SAFETY OF SCHOOLS
VISUS

10. 
10© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS SURVEYORS TRAINING EL SALVADOR PILOT PROJECT
VISUS APP
FOR DATA COLLECTION
VISUS SURVEYORVISUS SURVEYOR

11. 
11© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS SURVEYS SELF-MANAGED IMPLEMENTATION
ON FIELD SURVEY
DESK WORK1
2
data
collection
3
preparation
ELABORATION
AND REPORTING
inspection
El Salvador Pilot Project SCHOOL COMPLEX EVALUATION SUMMARY
BUILDINGS WARNINGS
WEAKNESSES
INTERVENTION NEEDS
VISUS TRAINING (3 days)0

12. 
12© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS APPLICATION TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE
VISUS: A CAPACITY BUILDING TOOL

13. 
13© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS FOR TECHNICAL TRIAGE
INVESTIGATE “HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH”
FOR DEFINING WHAT IS OPPORTUNE TO DO
DECISION MAKING SUPPORT
FOR PLANNING EFFECTIVE RISK REDUCTION ATIONS
A TRIAGE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY
(EXPERT-BASED APPROACH)
Visual Inspection for defining Safety Upgrading Strategies
the meaning of the acronim

14. 
14© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
THE LEVEL OF ANALYSIS VISUS POSITION
0
1
3
Available documentation
Desk analysis
VISUS
INPUT
data-approach
OUTPUT
decision making information
Preliminary classification
(deficit of capacity – seismic codes)
Class or index of risk
Priority ranking for
deepening/intervention
Multi-aspect weakness characterization
Intervention needs
Cost estimation
Decision support tool for multicriteria
definition of intervention strategies
Detailed engineering,
geophysical and
geotechnical
data acquisition and
quantitative analyses
(building)
Seismic site characterization
Quantitative assessment of structural
safety
Seismic design
Detailed cost quantification
Macro-typological data
Rapid survey
(national/large scale)
Visual inspection and
quality material
characterization
by trained technicians
(regional/urban scale)
Level of
Assessment
Detailed investigation and analysis
2
INTERVENTION
STRATEGYOF
INTERVENTION
QUICKASSESSMENT
TRIAGE

15. 
15© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
VISUS EVOLUTION MULTI-HAZARD TRIAGE
© SPRINT-Lab University of Udine (I)

16. RESUMING
16© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
METHODOLOGY
LOCAL COMMITEE
TRAINING FOR TRAINERS
TRAINING FOR SURVEYORS
MEETINGS WITH
LOCAL EXPERTS
AND STAKEHOLDERS
ADAPTATION
CONTEXTUALSATION
INDIVIDUAL
REPORTS
VISUS TRIAGE
INDICATORS
DECISION MAKING SUPPORT TO GOVERNMENTS FOR REACHING THEIR SCHOOL SAFETY COMMITMENTS
(PROVIDE INFORMATION AND KEY ELEMENTS FOR DEFINING AN EFFECTIVE SAFETY UPGRADING STRATEGY)
CHARACTERIZATION
OF THE PROBLEM AND
THE INTERVENTION NEEDS
VISUS APP
OPEN STREET MAP
PRODUCTS
CAPACITY BUILDING
VISUS: AS SUPPORT
PRE-CODIFIED
EVALUATION
CRITERIA
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
VISUS
SURVEYORS
VISUS PACKAGE

17. 
17© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS LESSON LEARTN
MULTIDIMENSIONAL SAFETY CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SCENARIO
AS DECISION MAKING SUPPORT TOOL FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND
SAFETY MANAGERS
HOLISTIC APPROACH (GLOBAL SAFETY)
USE OF “COMMUNICATIVE” SAFE-INDICATORS FOR TRANSFERRING
SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT AND FOR INCREASING
AWARENESS ON THE SAFETY PROBLEM
LESSON LEARNT FROM EXPERIENCE
IMPORTANCE OF
IMPORTANCE OF A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH FOR AN EFFECTIVE RISK
REDUCTION, MAINLY AT REGIONAL SCALE
TRIAGE: ALLOWS GOVERNMENTS TO CHARACTERIZE THE SITUATION IN A FAST BUT
PRAGMATIC WAY (NO HIGH ECONOMIC AND HUMAN CAPACITIES ARE REQUIRED)
THE PRECODIFICATION OF THE REASONING OF THE EXPERT ON CHARACTERIZATION
AND EVALUATION FACILITATES THE CAPACITY BUILDING AND ENSURES THE
UNIFORMITY OF JUDGEMENT

18. 18© prof. ing. Stefano Grimaz – Director of SPRINT-Lab – Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (I)
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Prof. Stefano Grimaz
stefano.grimaz@uniud.it
Director of
SPRINT – Safety and Protection Intersectorial Laboratory
Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment
University of Udine (Italy)
http://sprint.uniud.it
Contact references:
VISUS Method
developed by SPRINT-Lab - Department of Chemistry Physics and Environment - University of Udine (Italy)
and adopted for UNESCO’s project entitled “Providing decision-making information and tools for enhancing
school safety in El Salvador through school facilities assessment and OpenStreetMap sourcing”