AGBIO/FDSC 521: Food Defense
Management and Personnel – Ln 5 Lecture 4
Preventive Measures: Management and Personnel
Please note: This transcript was taken directly from the VoiceThread presentation and is
therefore written in a narration or speaking style.
Slide 1: Food Defense
In lecture 4, weʼre going to talk about preventative measures–management and
personnel.
Slide 2: Instructor
This lecture is done by Dr. Cathy Cutter.
Slide 3: Overview
This talk is number 4 in a series of 7 from defense lectures.
Slide 4: Overview
We've covered, up to this point, the intro of food defense, the overview of government
regulations, some risk analysis, and weʼll get into this management and personnel
measures.
Slide 5: Preventative Measures
For this brief lecture weʼre going to focus on 3 areas: management, personnel, and
visitors.
Slide 6: Preventative Measures
In the context of food defense, it is management's responsibility to prepare for
preventative measures. That means that management must assign responsibilities for
security: do you have an outside company that does this? Do you have individuals who
will be involved with an initial assessment? Somebody who can come in and maybe as
part of the food defense team (which will talk about a little bit) and look to see where the
gaps are. Do you have a way to develop a security management strategy? What can be
done to ensure that things are done properly, orderly, and everything is recorded and
information is shared openly with those individuals who are responsible for those
activities? Do you have a crisis management policy? Can you deal with the
communication of the issues at hand to the right individuals? And then last but not least
you have a tested recall procedure. These are items that management must adhere to,
must prepare for, must assign those individuals so that everybody knows what they're
doing, why they're doing it, and then can report on activities as needed in the case of a
crisis.
Slide 7: Preventative Measures
In some cases, management might enlist a community emergency response system or
be part of a team effort within the community to deal with things. Especially if you are,
for example, a radiation plant that's doing food products. If you have an issue there,
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AGBIO/FDSC 521: Food Defense
Management and Personnel – Ln 5 Lecture 4
you'll be working with the community response team, you might be working with OSHA
and other organizations in the area.
What about a facility emergency response plan? Are there measures in place for the
individuals to go to if there is a crisis of some sort? And is it explained thoroughly and
shared openly? Do people know what to do in the case of an emergency?
What information is available for other contacts? People in the community, people in the
plant, owners, other personnel who are responsible for some of the administration of the
food defense plan. Those things are necessary. Also there must be some kind of
internal communication system as well as some kind of external communication
strategy. Specifically is there a calling tree when there is an incident? And from an
external communication strategy; who contacts who in the crisis?
Slide 8: Preventative Measures
In addition to preparing for these kind of issues, management must evaluate: are things
being done sufficiently? Are there measures that could be improved upon? So you must
have sufficient supervision. It's also important to conduct routine checks of facilities and
grounds to make sure that everything is evaluated and nothing goes undetected. Also
make sure that management and/or personnel or employees follow up and investigate
suspicious activities.
And also any time you have consumer complaint data where somebody notices
something wrong with the product and then calls-in, evaluate the data and look to see if
there's anything that would potentially coincide, give you any indication that you're
dealing with a intentional contamination incident. You would do this for any kind of
unintentional contamination incident, looking at these consumer complaint data is
absolutely important to finding out what's going on and reacting quickly.
Slide 9: Preventative Measures
Make sure that management evaluates the effectiveness of the security management
program. Make sure someone goes in and looks to see if contractors and suppliers are
allowed access at the appropriate times under the required conditions. And then make
sure that if there are issues where things are not getting resolved or thereʼs gaps in how
things are being done or gaps in prevention measures, fix them and make sure that
they're ready to go the next time that there's an audit or an evaluation.
Slide 10: Preventative Measures
Next on the list is personnel. First and foremost with personnel we must consider hiring
practices. Does the organization conduct background checks? This would require
someone to do a thorough employment status update, look at criminal background
checks, and contact references. Far too often we hire somebody without going through
references and all it takes is a couple minutes of a phone call to make sure that this
person is legit. We recommend doing this for all newly hired employees as well as any
temporary employees, anybody who might be coming in as part of a contract
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AGBIO/FDSC 521: Food Defense
Management and Personnel – Ln 5 Lecture 4
organization. If you have a sanitation crew it's important to make sure, especially with
high turnover in some of these areas, that you have an up-to-date list of the individuals.
And if the company is not doing the background check for this, that somebody else is
doing that prior to allowing the individuals to come into the plant.
Slide 11: Preventative Measures
It's important to restrict access to personnel. For example, if somebody is supposed to
be in the radiated area and is showing up in the raw or slaughter area of a meat
processing plant, you must be able to ascertain whether or not this is a violation of
somebody being there, if rules and regulations are not being followed or if it's truly
something done without thinking things through thoroughly. So this can be
accomplished by entry systems where you have keys or electronic systems that only
open when you scan your ID card before going into a processing area. Also having a
scan on the outside of a door to be able to monitor who's going in and out of the facility
or the restricted area.
It's also important to keep in mind limited access areas. It is sufficient signage on the
restricted areas to impede somebody from walking into that area? Also making sure that
individuals have colored attire for certain areas. In some ready-to-eat areas you have
somebody whoʼs dressed totally in blue and if they're working a raw area they have red
gear, red frocks. Anybody who's red the blue area shouldn't be there. Theyʼll be
removed or asked to leave. Or conversely anybody wearing blue in a red area should
not be wearing that and then appropriate recommendations can be taken at that point.
Sometimes you can do this with badges or a photo or maybe you would do this with a
hat of some sort. So somebody knows what your status is within the organization. So
there's ways to do this to restrict access to personnel to certain parts of plant.
Slide 12: Preventative Measures
It's important to also supervise and monitor personnel. Are employees acting or
behaving oddly? Is there a recent event in their lives? This is where you can get
employees involved. If they feel uncomfortable with something somebody is saying,
making sure that they get that information to their supervisors. It's important to know
when employees should be on-site and where they should be working. Again using the
red frock blue frock example from earlier it's important to know where you're supposed
to be in a plant, if you're not or if there is designated color coding that those individuals
know where theyʼre supposed to be at all times and if theyʼre in other areas that theyʼre
not supposed to be then measures will be taken to make sure that it doesn't happen
again. It's important to have a system for positive identification. It's also important to
have a policy for personal items whether it's a locker or in a cubby someplace, making
sure that those policies are clearly written and articulated well to employees.
Slide 13: Preventative Measures
It's always important to train individuals. Have them be another set of eyes in your plant.
So you may do orientation training on security procedures especially with new
employees. Employees are the first-line of defense against intentional contamination
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AGBIO/FDSC 521: Food Defense
Management and Personnel – Ln 5 Lecture 4
incidents. Have them understand the importance of why they're supposed to report odd
behavior or if they see something that doesn't look right, like a door thatʼs propped open.
Keep an eye out for the unusual. If somebody keeps leaving a door open time after time
and it's constantly being ignored, have your employees convey that to the appropriate
supervisor.
Question people who are not where theyʼre supposed to be. Sometimes all it takes is a
couple of individuals getting together to create an issue that can create an intentional
contamination incident. If you see people congregating or milling around in and theyʼre
not supposed to be in that area, make sure that employees understand that. Make sure
that they convey that to their supervisors so that they can be handled. Report any
unusual situations to management. This is the first line of defense when it comes to food
defense.
Slide 14: Preventative Measures - Visitors
Last but not least when it comes to visitors make sure that individuals who do come into
the plant have scheduled visits. Make sure that they're not coming in on cold calls. Also
make sure that they provide identification upon entry of the processing facility. Once
they're there make sure you give them an ID badge that clearly delineates that they are
visitors. Whether it be a hat, a frock, or a visitor label on a badge. Make sure that those
visitors turn those badges in when departing.
It's also important to keep logs and records of those individuals coming in and out of the
plants. That's a good way to look at and look back at data in case there is a
contamination incident that can be attributed to somebody from the outside.
Slide 15: Preventative Measures - Visitors
Any time a visitor comes in there should be an inspection upon arrival and departure.
Are they walking out with anything in their personal belongings? Also making sure that
those individuals are restricted to defined areas when waiting, making sure that they
stay in the waiting room or stay in the designated area. Also make sure that they are
always escorted by responsible employees within the building and never allow them to
wander by themselves without permission.
Slide 16: References
Many of the tips and information provided in this particular lecture are also available in
the references described in the next couple of pages.
Guide to food defense for food processing, packaging, and disturbing facilities. 2007.
American Institute of Baking, Manhattan, KS.
National Center for Food Protection and Defense; University of Minnesota Resources:
http://www.ncfpd.umn.edu/
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AGBIO/FDSC 521: Food Defense
Management and Personnel – Ln 5 Lecture 4
Slide 17: References
University of Missouri: Food Defense - How to protect your food supply:
http://extension.missouri.edu/fooddefense/
UT: Center for Industrial Services: Is your Food Safe from Terrorism?:
http://www.cis.utk.edu/safe/food_defense.shtml
Slide 18: Resources
FDA: Food Defense and Emergency Response:
http://www.fda.gov/food/fooddefense/default.htm
USDA: Food Defense and Emergency Response:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/food_defense_&_emergency_response/index.asp
Slide 19: Questions
At this point if you have any questions, comment on them here via your microphone,
text, and or calling.
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