Essay on Industrial Security Plan
Today, the industrial security is extremely important because many companies, their facilities, employees, and the local population are exposed to numerous risks and threats, including not only the risk of hazards but also the risk of terror attacks and other threats that may affect different companies and organizations. In response to numerous risks and threats organizations should develop effective industrial security plan. However, the planning at the organizational level alone is not enough for the effective implementation of the plan and protection of employees, facilities, local population and environment from the risk of hazards and other threats. In this regard, the industrial security plan should include norms and standards elaborated and implemented at the federal level, such as norms and standards elaborated in terms of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Environment Protection Agency, National Incident Management System, Incident Command System and others. At the same time, these norms and standards are implemented by organizations and they should be monitored and controlled by industrial safety and security officers. In such a way, the industrial security plan is extremely important today and needs the close cooperation between organizations, safety and security officers, emergency services and law enforcement agencies.
In fact, industrial safety and security officers play a particularly significant part in the prevention of hazards and other incidents as well as in the elimination of effects and in the hazard management. Industrial safety and security officers are exposed to numerous risks because often they are the first, who confront hazards or incidents that may threaten to employees, environment and the local population. In actuality, security personnel working at companies for the protection of the facilities, materials, and products, as well as those employed by government agencies, are often called upon to provide support during hazardous substance emergencies and the emergency planning in preparation for such incidents is key to successful implementation of emergency response operations (Preparing and Protecting Security Personnel in Emergencies, 2007). In such a way, industrial safety and control officers take an active part in the protection of facilities and population, in case of hazards and other incidents.
Naturally, in such a situation, industrial safety and security officers need special training to provide effective services and to minimize the risk of injuries of employees and other people as well as damages of property and facilities. In fact, a well-trained security staff can help to ensure the proper evacuation of employees and the public, the quick response of an emergency response team, and the proper handling of bystanders and representatives of the media (Preparing and Protecting Security Personnel in Emergencies, 2007). This is why organizations have to pay a particular attention to the training of industrial safety and security officers.
The work of industrial safety and security officers is regulated not only by internal organizational codes and regulations but also by federal laws. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), which focus on the protection of employees from negative effects of hazards and, what is more important, they aim at the prevention of hazards in the workplace environment. EPA and OSHA have the statutory responsibility to ensure the safety and health of the public and America’s workforce through the timely and effective implementation of a number of federal laws and implementing regulations (Memorandum of Understanding, 1991). In such a way, EPA and OSHA focus on the regulation of the organizational performance in terms of the workplace and public safety. This means that organizations should follow norms and standards established in terms of EPA and OSHA to minimize the risk of hazards and incidents that may damage property, facilities or cause harm to the health of employees and other people.
At this point, it is important to dwell upon specific responsibilities of EPA and OSHA. EPA responsibilities include the protection of public health and the environment by assuring compliance with federal environmental statutes and regulations. Agency functions are performed through standards setting and rulemaking; technical reviews; audits and studies; conduct of public hearings; issuance of permits and licenses; compliance inspections; investigations and enforcement; and evaluation of operating experience and research (Memorandum of Understanding, 1991). Therefore, EPA focuses on the protection of the environment from hazards that may occur in different industries, such as chemical, nuclear and others, which are extremely dangerous for the environment and need strict control and regulations in terms of industrial safety and security.
As for OSHA, OSHA is responsible for enforcing the OSH Act, 29 U.S.C. 651 et. seq. The goal of the OSH Act is to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions. To achieve that purpose, the Act provides broad authority for a variety of activities and programs designed to reduce the number of occupational safety and health hazards at places of employment. Among these is the authority to promulgate mandatory safety and health standards for private sector workplaces, and to conduct inspections of such workplaces to determine compliance with the Act and with OSHA standards. When violations are found, OSHA is authorized to issue citations to employers, propose penalties, and require abatement of hazards. In cases involving imminent dangers, OSHA is authorized to seek injunctive relief in U.S. District Court. In states which have elected to administer State occupational safety and health programs, or “State plans,” the Act requires OSHA to conduct a continuing evaluation of State operations and, in certain circumstances, to provide a program of concurrent federal OSHA enforcement (Memorandum of Understanding, 1991). Therefore, the primary concern of OSHA is the protection of employees from hazards and incidents that may threaten to their health. OSHA develops regulations and standards, which organizations should follow to ensure the high level of employees’ protection from hazards and incidents. OSHA and EPA can conduct investigations in relations to organizations that violate existing regulations or organizations, which suffered from incidents and hazards that have already caused harm to employees’ health and damages to property or environment.
OSHA and EPA conduct investigation of different accidents, including accidents in chemical industry, which may have a particularly dangerous effect on employees, environment, and local communities. At this point, it is possible to refer to the example of chemical industry, where EPA and OSHA regulations are particularly strict. The fundamental objective of the EPA and OSHA chemical accident investigation program is to determine and report to the public the facts, conditions, circumstances, and cause or probable cause of any chemical accident that results in a fatality, serious injury, substantial property damage, or serious off-site impact, including a large scale evacuation of the general public (EPA/OSHA Joint Chemical Accident Investigation Report, 1997). In fact, incidents and hazards occurring in the chemical industry are extremely dangerous for both human health and environment. Therefore, the prevention of hazards and dangerous incidents is crucial for employees and public health and environment protection. In this regard, industrial safety and security officers should control and monitor the situation in organizations operating in the chemical industry to decrease the risk of hazards and incidents.
Nevertheless, accidents and hazards do occur in different industries, including the chemical one. In such a situation, if an accident or hazard occurs, EPA and OSHA should conduct investigation of the case. The ultimate goal of the accident investigation is to determine the root cause in order to reduce the likelihood of recurrence, minimize the consequences associated with accidental releases, and to make chemical production, processing, handling, and storage safer (EPA/OSHA Joint Chemical Accident Investigation Report, 1997). In fact, the investigation of each case of hazard or dangerous incident contributes to the better understanding of reasons of the hazard or incident that helps to prevent new incidents and hazards that may occur in the future. At the same time, the investigation conducted by OSHA and EPA help to find out those, who are responsible for hazard and accidents. In this regard, industrial safety and security officers should help in the course of the investigation. In fact, individuals responsible for hazards or accidents that are harmful for employees’ health or dangerous for environment are liable to legal prosecution.
In actuality, the effective incident management is very important because, as an incident or hazard occurs, it has to be managed effectively to minimize risks and threats to employees and public health as well as to the environment. In this regard, the national incident management system and incident command system can be helpful because they develop basic norms and principles of the incident management that can help organizations, industrial safety and security officers, and emergency services to respond to incidents fast and manage them effectively. The NIMS represents a core set of doctrine, principles, terminology, and organizational processes to enable effective, efficient and collaborative incident management at all levels. To provide the framework for interoperability and compatibility, the NIMS is based on a balance between flexibility and standardization (NIMS and the Incident Command System, 2004).
At the same time, organization and businesses should be responsible for the development of adequate and effective industrial security system that minimizes the risk of incidents and hazards, especially in such industries as chemical or nuclear one. In fact, without the good will of organizations and their close cooperation with federal agencies and industrial safety and security officers, the effective incident management and prevention of incidents and hazards in different industries are virtually impossible. At any rate, the effectiveness of incident and hazard prevention increases substantially, when businesses cooperate closely with industrial safety and security officers and state agencies. In addition, such cooperation contributes to the higher productivity because the lack of incidents and hazards saves costs of organizations and allows them to perform successfully. Otherwise, hazards and incidents become too costly for organizations. Therefore, today, businesses and organizations are highly motivated to maintain effective industrial security plans.
