Manufacturing Security: How to Safeguard a High-Risk Plant
Workplace security is a prime concern for all businesses, and manufacturing plants are no exception. While you will probably think about work accidents when it comes to security, the outsider-threat factor is real in industrial settings. The threat is even bigger for businesses operating in high-risk domains, such as nuclear products, aeronautics, defense, and precious metals and gemstones.
While statistics show employee theft costs American businesses $50 billion yearly, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Factories are a soft target for criminals because they have busy premises with many visitors entering and leaving throughout the day. Moreover, high-value products make these businesses even more vulnerable.
As a manufacturer running a high-risk plant, you must be aware of the risks and implement adequate measures to safeguard your premises. Here are a few actionable manufacturing security tips you can rely on.
Start with a Thorough Risk Assessment
A holistic, detailed risk assessment is the mainstay of industrial safety. Check the facility’s vulnerabilities to understand the feasible measures and implement an actionable security strategy. You may identify various threats, from workplace accidents to supply chain disruption and physical breaches. There may be specific ones, such as chemical hazards in a nuclear plant.
Work-injury statistics show that manufacturing is among the riskiest industries for employees, making it a primary vulnerability for the segment. Plants with dangerous machines and hazardous materials are even more prone to mishaps. But it would be best to overlook external threats such as burglary and break-ins.
A thorough assessment and documentation of risks give you a head start with your safety measures. Such assessments shouldn’t be a one-and-done event. Perform regular risk assessments to stay ahead of the threats and be ready to deal with them.
Establish Robust Security Protocols
A robust security protocol in a factory is essential to keep threats at bay. An effective one spans beyond perimeter fences and access controls to protect the facility’s boundaries. A recent incident involved the loss of 60,000 pounds of an explosive chemical during a rail shipment from Wyoming to California. It shows that a safety protocol should cover your supply chain as well.
Establish security standards to keep your employees aware of securing your facility and ensuring every worker adheres to them. You can include the rules in the employee handbook to ensure everyone joining the workforce knows about them.
Besides defining standards for your team members, run regular penetration tests to check for unexpected vulnerabilities. If gaining unauthorized access to your plant and assets is easy, you must reinvent your security protocol. Pay attention to the smallest of things slipping between cracks because they can lead to significant threats down the road.
Keep Track of Visitors
A high-risk industry faces threats from employee theft because they have access to valuable materials inside the plant. But you cannot undermine the possibility of visitor pilferage, considering that many employees, clients, contractors, and suppliers often visit a factory on a typical workday. Keeping an eye on everyone entering and leaving the premises is not easy. Implementing visitor management software can help you with tracking and managing visitors.
Greetly says modern visitor management systems do more than basic visitor activity tracking. You can rely on these tools to facilitate better physical and data security, maintain internal and regulatory compliance, and provide legal documentation, ID cards, keycards, badges, and keycards. They can be your secret weapon against unwanted intruders.
Besides knowing who enters and leaves the premises, please pay attention to their purpose. Don’t hesitate to raise a red flag if you spot suspicious activity.
Set Up Surveillance Devices
While visitor management software enables you to check the people coming in through suitable means, you cannot use it to check break-ins and burglaries. Burglars may enter when no one is around or from weak spots you don’t know about.
Installing surveillance devices is your best defense against such unprecedented events and perils. The US video surveillance market is projected to reach $10.99 billion in 2023. The sheer market size and revenue indicate the popularity of these products in residential, commercial, and industrial settings.
Set up security cameras and alarms in strategic areas around your factory. Look for less frequented areas and locations housing high-value items. You can advance with advanced surveillance technology, such as thermal cameras, that ensure extra safety in the dark. With these installations, you can prevent employee threats besides keeping burglars at bay.
Stay Ahead of Cybersecurity
Securing your factory is not just about preventing physical attacks by insiders and outsiders. Automation is an integral part of modern manufacturing processes, so cybersecurity is essential for factory owners. When you use software apps for handling processes like inventory management, there is always a risk of data theft or malware attacks.
Remember that data is as crucial as any other business asset if you operate in a high-risk industry. A malware attack can halt automated processes, leading to downtime and financial loss for a business. It would help if you had robust defenses against both.
An outage may leave the premises vulnerable to plants relying on an intelligent security system because anyone can take advantage of the downtime window. Likewise, you should protect data storage systems, such as personnel, finances, and payroll, with firewalls and malware protection.
The Bottom Line
Manufacturing security is critical to efficiency and productivity, so you cannot leave it to chance. The concern becomes even more significant for those running in high-risk domains. Securing valuable raw materials and products from internal theft is challenging enough, let alone the risk of burglaries and attacks.
Fortunately, safety need not be a massive expense for your business. You can rely on these measures to safeguard your plant against internal and external threats. You must pay attention to your vulnerabilities and implement a proactive defense plan to safeguard your premises and assets against them. The right mindset is the best defense!
Manufacturing Security: How to Safeguard a High-Risk Plant
Workplace security is a prime concern for all businesses, and manufacturing plants are no exception. While you will probably think about work accidents when it comes to security, the outsider-threat factor is real in industrial settings. The threat is even bigger for businesses operating in high-risk domains, such as nuclear products, aeronautics, defense, and precious metals and gemstones.
While statistics show employee theft costs American businesses $50 billion yearly, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Factories are a soft target for criminals because they have busy premises with many visitors entering and leaving throughout the day. Moreover, high-value products make these businesses even more vulnerable.
As a manufacturer running a high-risk plant, you must be aware of the risks and implement adequate measures to safeguard your premises. Here are a few actionable manufacturing security tips you can rely on.
Start with a Thorough Risk Assessment
A holistic, detailed risk assessment is the mainstay of industrial safety. Check the facility’s vulnerabilities to understand the feasible measures and implement an actionable security strategy. You may identify various threats, from workplace accidents to supply chain disruption and physical breaches. There may be specific ones, such as chemical hazards in a nuclear plant.
Work-injury statistics show that manufacturing is among the riskiest industries for employees, making it a primary vulnerability for the segment. Plants with dangerous machines and hazardous materials are even more prone to mishaps. But it would be best to overlook external threats such as burglary and break-ins.
A thorough assessment and documentation of risks give you a head start with your safety measures. Such assessments shouldn’t be a one-and-done event. Perform regular risk assessments to stay ahead of the threats and be ready to deal with them.
Establish Robust Security Protocols
A robust security protocol in a factory is essential to keep threats at bay. An effective one spans beyond perimeter fences and access controls to protect the facility’s boundaries. A recent incident involved the loss of 60,000 pounds of an explosive chemical during a rail shipment from Wyoming to California. It shows that a safety protocol should cover your supply chain as well.
Establish security standards to keep your employees aware of securing your facility and ensuring every worker adheres to them. You can include the rules in the employee handbook to ensure everyone joining the workforce knows about them.
Besides defining standards for your team members, run regular penetration tests to check for unexpected vulnerabilities. If gaining unauthorized access to your plant and assets is easy, you must reinvent your security protocol. Pay attention to the smallest of things slipping between cracks because they can lead to significant threats down the road.
Keep Track of Visitors
A high-risk industry faces threats from employee theft because they have access to valuable materials inside the plant. But you cannot undermine the possibility of visitor pilferage, considering that many employees, clients, contractors, and suppliers often visit a factory on a typical workday. Keeping an eye on everyone entering and leaving the premises is not easy. Implementing visitor management software can help you with tracking and managing visitors.
Greetly says modern visitor management systems do more than basic visitor activity tracking. You can rely on these tools to facilitate better physical and data security, maintain internal and regulatory compliance, and provide legal documentation, ID cards, keycards, badges, and keycards. They can be your secret weapon against unwanted intruders.
Besides knowing who enters and leaves the premises, please pay attention to their purpose. Don’t hesitate to raise a red flag if you spot suspicious activity.
Set Up Surveillance Devices
While visitor management software enables you to check the people coming in through suitable means, you cannot use it to check break-ins and burglaries. Burglars may enter when no one is around or from weak spots you don’t know about.
Installing surveillance devices is your best defense against such unprecedented events and perils. The US video surveillance market is projected to reach $10.99 billion in 2023. The sheer market size and revenue indicate the popularity of these products in residential, commercial, and industrial settings.
Set up security cameras and alarms in strategic areas around your factory. Look for less frequented areas and locations housing high-value items. You can advance with advanced surveillance technology, such as thermal cameras, that ensure extra safety in the dark. With these installations, you can prevent employee threats besides keeping burglars at bay.
Stay Ahead of Cybersecurity
Securing your factory is not just about preventing physical attacks by insiders and outsiders. Automation is an integral part of modern manufacturing processes, so cybersecurity is essential for factory owners. When you use software apps for handling processes like inventory management, there is always a risk of data theft or malware attacks.
Remember that data is as crucial as any other business asset if you operate in a high-risk industry. A malware attack can halt automated processes, leading to downtime and financial loss for a business. It would help if you had robust defenses against both.
An outage may leave the premises vulnerable to plants relying on an intelligent security system because anyone can take advantage of the downtime window. Likewise, you should protect data storage systems, such as personnel, finances, and payroll, with firewalls and malware protection.
The Bottom Line
Manufacturing security is critical to efficiency and productivity, so you cannot leave it to chance. The concern becomes even more significant for those running in high-risk domains. Securing valuable raw materials and products from internal theft is challenging enough, let alone the risk of burglaries and attacks.
Fortunately, safety need not be a massive expense for your business. You can rely on these measures to safeguard your plant against internal and external threats. You must pay attention to your vulnerabilities and implement a proactive defense plan to safeguard your premises and assets against them. The right mindset is the best defense!
