The chemical industry, in particular, faces risks that were unthinkable only a few years ago. The need for reliable and cost-effective options to protect critical infrastructure and respond to the security concerns of our national assets is greater now than ever.
One company, Air Products, has undertaken industry-leading security measures to upgrade the safety of its plants world-wide, using a cutting edge technology for employing electronic detection around areas of concern, and in some cases, the entire perimeter of some of its facilities.
A chemical company's security solution
Air Products is a leading supplier of semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognised throughout the chemical industry for its commitment to safety and security, which extends to its facilities, employees, surrounding communities, and the environment. It operates in 31 countries, with headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA.
Bill Koch, Air Products' global director of process safety integrity, has responsibility for terrorism-related preparedness for the company. "The strength of Air Products' commitment rests with its high-performing partnerships between the security team and other cross-functional organisations, such as process safety, project engineering, information technology, and global operations," he said. "Without the commitment from our senior management and the dedication of our security vulnerability assessment team, we would have not been able to achieve our objectives in such a short timeframe."
The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Responsible Care initiative guides the company's goals regarding security. This code uses a risk-based approach for setting management practices, analysing threats and vulnerabilities, implementing security measures, training personnel, and responding to threats and incidents. Given the uniqueness of Air Products as the world's only supplier of both industrial gases and chemicals, the company developed its own ACC-approved security vulnerability assessment methodology to ensure the safety of its operations, from large, integrated chemical and industrial gas plants to small industrial gas units located at customer sites. The company has installed additional layers of protection to deter, detect, and delay anyone trying to enter facilities for illegal purposes. It is also implementing the ACC code globally, with teams currently conducting vulnerability assessments at its European and Asian sites.
For the past five years, Air Products has worked with a company called Unlimited Technology, a full-service security systems integration firm. The company specialises in enterprise electronic security applications for the chemical, specialty gas, and utilities industries. Its president, Brent Franklin, along with his product team, manages Air Products' security needs and is managing all of its Tier 1 projects.
The global deployment of all physical security projects for Air Products is the responsibility of Marc Murphy, team lead, physical security. "With Unlimited Technology, we evaluated a number of different technologies, looking for a company to work with us," he explained. "We chose Vision Systems and its ADPRO line of security products as an outcome of the vulnerability assessment, based on the company's reputation for supplying technology solutions to the utilities industry and the availability of its products on a global scale."
Ron Petrie, Unlimited Technology's business development manager, said that his company highly recommended ADPRO. "We have worked with ADPRO in the past, and knew it was the right application for an intrusion detection system," he said. "I like ADPRO technology. It offers the full package - video transmission, video recording, and intrusion detection. It is a very clean application."
ADPRO advantages
ADPRO is an integrated, motion detection system with remote video transmission. It provides instantaneous alert of potential intrusion, and allows remote visual verification in the company's command centre, from any location around the world.
It reliably ignores outdoor environmental conditions, such as small animals, debris, and birds. If intervention is required, the command centre operator can initiate immediate emergency response procedures, including the broadcast of a live audio message to the intruder warning him that he is trespassing and encouraging him to leave the premise.
Used in this way, ADPRO can help prevent an intrusion from becoming a major event. All of the video and audio information is stored and can be used in follow-up investigations with the appropriate law enforcement authorities.
"ADPRO is a great choice for the chemical industry because it is flexible and is not bound to the fence line like other competitive technologies," said Mike Driscoll, Vision Systems' business development manager. "This allows options for security system designs, enhanced performance and cost containment." The products are designed so that the components can work together or separately, depending upon the needs of the customer. "Unlike other manufacturers, we are providers of the outdoor detection technologies, digital video storage, alarm transmission, and central station management technologies, for an integrated, whole product solution," said Driscoll.
The ADPRO product line includes the following:
Axiom video motion detection system - Protects outdoor assets and storage areas from intruders. This system offers perspective compensated sizing, speed measurements, and target tracking that focuses the detection process on real intruders. Automatic scene learning optimises detection of genuine targets, while rejecting false alarms from wind-induced movement of objects and shadows within the scene.
Video Central - PC-based software program allows an operator to call up and remotely see and hear what is happening at a monitored site. Security management of single or multiple sites is simple with Video Central's graphical user interface, with the ability to see live video within seconds.
PRO 250 - Sensitive, passive infrared detector designed for outdoor perimeter protection. It is a long-range device with a detection capability up to 100 metres. All-weather housing allows the detector to operate in a wide range of outdoor environments and conditions, while minimising false alarms.
FastTrace - A digital video management system for evidential quality recording, off-site video transmission, and verification. It delivers rapid, remote access of live events and instant retrieval of stored images. With intelligent, interactive management software and advanced compression algorithm capability, FastTrace provides 120 days' storage of archived video without compromising image quality. This DVR is specifically designed for high-security, multiple-site industries that require centralised security and surveillance management.
CMT Trading offers the ADPRO line of security and surveillance products in South Africa.
For more information contact Anthony Rosebaum, CMT Trading, 011 704 4411, [email protected], www.cmtcctv.co.za
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