Safety Management

Chemical Industry Publishes Plant Security Guidelines

In the wake of the September 11 attacks and subsequent security threats in the United States, the American Chemistry Council (formerly the Chemical Manufacturers Association) has developed a comprehensive guide of best practices for chemical plant safety and security that can be applied to a variety of industries. Among the provisions are:

• Conduct a risk assessment to identify the assets that need to be protected, the possible threats, and the likelihood and consequences of any attack.

• Designate a member of management, or hire someone, to be in charge of the security effort.

• Create a system for incident reporting and investigation.

• Develop, implement and test a crisis management/emergency response plan.

• Address "physical security," which includes controlling access to the plant, protecting the perimeter and having backup systems in place.

• Upgrade hiring and employment termination processes, and adopt similar procedures in dealing with contractors.

• Safeguard documents, operations data and computer networks from attack.

Free copes of the guide are available at http://www.cmahq.com/cmawebsite.nsf/s?readform&nnar-53rkt8.