Learning Recognition Framework - LRF

Develop Facility and Product Security Program

Bloom’s Taxonomy: LV & LIV

Definition

  • LI. Remembering: Exhibit memory of previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts, and answers.
  • LII. Understanding: Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.
  • LIII. Applying: Solve problems in new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques, and rules in a different way.
  • LIV. Analyzing: Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inference and find evidence to support generalizations.
  • LV. Evaluating: Present and defend opinions my making judgments about information, validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria.
  • LVI. Creating: Compile information in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions.

Topic description

Managers must ensure the safety of people, products, and property when overseeing manufacturing operations.  Within certain global food safety programs, vulnerability and security assessment programming is required as part of the integrated food safety management program.  Food fraud, intentional food and facility sabotage, bioterrorism, cyber-attacks, routine thefts, and employee misconduct are managed through development and implementation of a robust security program.  Managers create this through strategic production and operations methods, as well as through progressive human resources policies and workplace culture.

Learning Objectives

LO1. Perform vulnerability and threat assessment on operations.

Working through a systems-based approach, managers need to research, brainstorm, and evaluate potential risks within the premises, and within the operations.  Once vulnerabilities and threats are anticipated, identified, and categorized, managers can develop preventive strategies relating to premises, operations, and productions.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Review historical security and vulnerability incidents within the facility and within similar organizations.
  • P2. Perform an environmental scan of external vulnerabilities and threats by reading news media, government reports, Canadian Center for Cyber security advice and reports, and other industry resources.
  • P3. Select a vulnerability and assessment framework, such as CARVER plus Shock or another framework.
  • P4. Perform a facility and physical premises vulnerability and threat assessment.
  • P5. Identify any regulatory, occupational safety, or building code requirements for physical premises security.
  • P6. Perform product vulnerability and threat assessment.
  • P7. Perform a supply chain vulnerability and threat assessment.
LO2. Develop HR policies for employee screening and training.

Employee vigilance and commitment to security is first dependent on the quality of employees that are hired to the organization. All job categories have a role to play in facility security, however certain jobs may have additional responsibilities for product and premise security. Managers are required to identify job categories that have heightened security requirements and develop screening and training tools to verify the integrity of workers within the facility. Review of these protocols with legal and organized labor will allow managers to gain credibility for these tools.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Identify keyholder, production seal holder, process control verification, and other high security job roles within the organization.
  • P2. Develop detailed job descriptions for high security job roles.
  • P3. Develop security screening protocols, including reference checks, security checks, credit checks, and other reliability verifications for high security job roles.
  • P4. Develop general job screening protocols for all job categories.
  • P5. Develop on the job training and refresher programming for ensuring secure work.
  • P6. Review the employee screening and training tools with legal counsel for compliance with human resources and human rights regulatory requirements.
  • P7. Review the employee screening and training tools with organized labor within the establishment.
LO3. Strengthen cyber defense capabilities and engage employees on the importance of cybersecurity

Like other sectors, entities across the food sector remain targets of malicious cyber actors. Cybercrime will continue to exploit targets of opportunity. Ransomware is the most common threat. Cyber espionage continues to attempt stealing intellectual property. Increasing exposure of critical infrastructure’s operational technology to the internet increases its threat surface.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Perform vulnerability and threat assessment on networks, systems, and equipment.
  • P2. Request advice and reports from the Canadian Center for Cyber security.
  • P3. Identify defense team roles and responsibilities.
  • P4. Develop disaster and cyber defense recovery plan.
  • P5. Develop Tools supporting cyber defense teams.
  • P6. Report cyber threats to the defense teams and share with employees to collectively improve cybersecurity.
  • P7. Develop mock attack programs such as mock phishing to train and improve employee awareness and responses against potential cyber-attacks.
LO4. Develop methods to ensure food defense and prevent intentional sabotage of product and premises.

Use of clear and meaningful operating procedures and behavioral practices can reduce the pressures for fraud, theft, and sabotage within the facility. Managers create policies and procedures that reduce the tensions and points of conflict that could otherwise foster employee behaviors that encourage sabotage.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Develop human resources policies and scheduling to avoid having employees working alone and unsupervised.
  • P2. Apply buddy system work strategies for high-risk activities.
  • P3. Create progressive methods of managing workplace conflicts and tensions to reduce potential employee retaliation.
  • P4. Create employee support systems and employee appreciation programs to increase pride in good work.
  • P5. Implement access control systems for employees, visitors, contractors, and suppliers.
  • P6. Develop video surveillance of facilities and security agent wandering around schedules.
  • P7. Create detailed product and ingredient specifications, operating procedures, and preventive control program checks to allow employees to rapidly identify products or systems that fall out of specification.
  • P8. Verify foreign material detection equipment functionality.
  • P9. Perform environmental scans for any potential security threats including bioterrorism and others.
LO5. Create methods to prevent food fraud such as mislabeling, adulteration and substitution of food.

Certain ingredients, because of their rarity or cost, can be prone to fraud. Food fraud most commonly substitution of low-cost ingredients for authentic ingredients thereby decreasing actual cost of goods. It can also include use of ingredients not permitted within regulations which can put consumers at risk from a food safety perspective. Managers need to work with production and shipping-receiving workers to develop and implement policies that reduce the opportunity for fraudulent activities to occur.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Investigate historical and emerging incidents of food fraud in the commodities being used. Some incidents can be done unintentionally, make sure the corrective and preventive actions are in place to avoid fraud incidents happening again.
  • P2. Investigate issues within the supply chain for reliability.
  • P3. Calculate vulnerability of inputs for manufacturing.
  • P4. Apply supplier verification methods such as third-party audits, use of letters of guarantee and certificates of analysis, and routine verification testing on incoming goods.
  • P5. Verify product packaging and lot codes to bills of lading, packing slips, and electronic purchase records.
  • P6. Negotiate use of security seals, block chain traceability, GPS tracking, and other integrity traceability methods on high-risk ingredients and other inputs.
  • P7. Control employee access to ingredients and supplies that are prone to adulteration.
  • P8. Reconcile inventory of ingredients within storage to ensure fraudulent ingredients are not being introduced.
  • P9. Verify master batch records and production records to warehouse storage records to ensure reconciliation of ingredients.
  • P10. Develop progressive supplier contracts that value product integrity and penalize fraudulent activities.
  • P11. Evaluate cost of goods manufactured and vendor contracts to reduce temptation to use low-cost fraudulent ingredients.
  • P12. Reduce the supplier base to vital few and purchase preferably from certified suppliers.
  • P13. Reduce supply chain complexity and encourage nearshoring or reshoring.
  • P14. Develop an employee culture that respects pride in doing good work.
  • P15. Evaluate insurance and liability policies with respect to food fraud.
  • P16. Evaluate client contract liability on food fraud.
LO6. Design premises security, security monitoring and record keeping processes.

Premises security can reduce vulnerability within the operations. Managers need to evaluate the types of security that are appropriate for the premises. Secondly, depending on the types of security used, there may be data and record keeping processes that must be followed to both protect the integrity of the records, while also managing data volume, and the integrity of the workers.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Determine physical perimeter, gating, fencing and ingress/egress security requirements for the establishment.
  • P2. Perform vulnerability assessment against the perimeter and ingress/egress.
  • P3. Evaluate building code, and other regulatory code requirements for security, video, and ingress/egress requirements.
  • P4. Perform a needs assessment for security cameras and video.
  • P5. Determine computing requirements, data storage, backup, and data retention requirements.
  • P6. Evaluate the need for card locks, fingerprints, facial recognition, or other biometric checkpoints within the facility.
  • P7. Evaluate the need for security guards within the workforce.
  • P8. Develop emergency response plan.
LO7. Develop human resources policies related to security and employee misconduct.

Managers need to develop progressive and transparent policies that empower positive workplace behaviors and discourage sabotage, fraud, theft, and other misconducts. Managers need to build strategies that comply with employment laws, and collective agreement requirements, while providing clear consequences for misconduct.

Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
  • P1. Develop policies for employee misconduct.
  • P2. Communicate with employees in a respectful and empowering way to encourage positive workplace activity, while clearly describing the establishment’s misconduct policies.
  • P3. Develop whistleblowing protocols for employees.
  • P4. Consult with legal counsel, and organized labor to evaluate appropriate responses for fraudulent employee activities, theft, stealing intellectual property, bioterrorism, and other sabotage.
  • P5. Develop decision making trees and contact lists for anticipated misconduct incidents.
  • P6. Consult with appropriate authorities, law enforcement, organized labor, and other neutral investigators during misconduct allegations.
  • P7. Perform an investigation with neutral parties to verify the findings of misconduct.
  • P8. Apply misconduct policy consistently, including employee discipline, and/or termination.
  • P9. Apply civil or criminal penalties as defined by legal counsel and law enforcement, when appropriate.

Links to existing courses

NA

Approved accredited Training Programs (academic, industries, private trainers)

NA

Recognition of worker skills = Certification

NA

Evaluation technics/ assessment

  • Quizzes
  • Written tests
  • Multiple choice questions

 

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