Security
Plants must provide a safe and secure environment for employees and guests. “Access to the plant and surrounding areas must be controlled to ensure safe operations of the plant and a secure place to work for employees,” Hale says. Security is typically provided by having a guard house located in the truck access driveway for admittance and control of departing trucks. “The truck area is fenced so no one can approach the building from a direction other than where they are expected to enter.”
Bruntjen adds, “When selecting a site from a visitor safety standpoint, you want the ability to limit access via checkpoints, badges and physical barriers. You also want to restrict visitors from congregating in close proximity to high traffic areas such as outside dock areas,” she says.
This might require creating unique flows for different functions. “It could include a separate contractor entrance for vendors who supply materials such as uniforms or chemicals to the site, or trucker lounges to check-in raw material deliveries, without giving access to the production operations,” Bruntjen says. Designing office space with public facing conference rooms close to an entrance point can also ensure visitors don’t need to cross through any production spaces.
“In accordance with the FDA’s Food Defense and Adulteration Plan, we utilize site and building design principles that are designed to mitigate risks to food facilities and the employees that work in them,” she says. The site should be able to be fully fenced with limited access points and a robust security system infrastructure.
Bruntjen adds that separate viewing corridors or platforms can allow visitors to observe operations without causing disruptions or potential contamination to the production lines. “Site selection can determine if adequate height and spacing is available to permit these types of corridors or mezzanines in a facility,” she says.
Tyler Cundiff, president, Gray Inc., Food & Beverage Market, says, “From a security perspective, technology has provided a variety of options to keep food, people and facilities safe via a combination of video and physical validation. Utilization of cameras in conjunction with well-planned security access and control measures can provide an opportunity for dual confirmation.”
For the facility itself, video cameras in conjunction with proximity-activated sensors provide the best validation protection for a facility. “These are not preventive measures, but rather those that activate after a violation of standard operating practices,” Cundiff says.
Hale notes that the standard parking area is generally open to others, as many employees will need to be dropped off at the plant by public transportation, private vehicles, rideshares or their own personal vehicles. “Employee access to the building is restricted by ID card scanners at the entrance doors. Visitors must be routed to the appropriate entrance for their check-in to be certain they won’t get into areas where they are not permitted.”
Signs and locked doors ensure that visitors are in the correct locations and are able to leave the plant in an emergency. “It’s always good to have a safety orientation for any visitors to large or complex facilities to ensure certain rules will be followed,” Hale says. FE