Business Protection Specialists’ President, Frank Pisciotta Discusses Security Trends and CFATS

AMAG recently talked with BPS President, Frank Pisciotta about the trends he’s noticing in the security industry.  Frank shared his insights on how consultants can better prepare themselves to handle the new trends, and about how chemical facility anti-terrorism standards (CFATS) will play a role in the near future.

What is your role in your company and what is your company’s specialty?

My role in BPS is to manage an organization whose mission is to prevent criminal and terrorist events in our client organizations before they ever happen.  This means keeping a highly skilled staff adept at assessing threats, identifying risks and providing cost effective risk mitigation strategies to our clients. It also includes keeping abreast with rapidly evolving security technology in areas that support the industry verticals we serve.  I also serve on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC) and lead their technical standards committee.  Current projects I’m involved in include updating the AutoCAD symbols to reflect evolution in products and IP device introduction as well as developing training programs for architects and engineers to apply in new building projects.

What security trends do you see occurring in the industry?

Companies continue to be reactive to security matters, for the most part.  It is difficult for some companies to see the value of analyzing security risks before an incident occurs. Instead, they wait until an unfavorable event occurs and then react. 

There continues to be a focus on utilizing technology to meet security needs.  With these ongoing technology changes, it requires experts to stay current on the newest developments and benchmark best practices.

What can security consultants do to prepare themselves for these trends?

Security consultants must foster relationships with manufacturers such as AMAG who make significant investments in R&D and stay abreast of emerging technology features.  It is also critical to attend training and webinars to keep up to date on the benefits that new products offer, which then benefit end user clients.  IAPSC holds an annual seminar where the top security product manufacturers are invited to present their products to an intimate group of security consultants who typically specify over $10 million worth of security products annually.  Consultants who do not specialize in technical security design and engineering are well served to partner with independent consulting firms that do. 

What is CFATS? What market(s) does it affect?

CFATS is the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards – a regulation that has significant impact on companies that possess chemicals that the Department of Homeland Security feels would be attractive to terrorists.  Complying with this regulation can consume hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not properly managed.

Where do you see CFATS heading?

We do not believe CFATS is going to be retracted.  In fact, we expect the CFATS net to be cast wider, potentially including such sites as those currently regulated under the Marine Transportation Security Act and community water systems, due to their use of gaseous chlorine for water treatment.

What standards do you see being added to the requirement?

None.  Though, I expect the number of facilities that are regulated will increase from the current number of about 7000.

How can consultants help their customers prepare and manage CFATS?

There are a significant number of requirements placed on regulated facilities. Consultants
need to be well-versed in a variety of counter-terrorism strategies, ranging from prevention
of a vehicle borne improvised explosive device to prevention of fraudulent acquisitions of chemicals of interest. The regulation is well down the road, and if consultants haven’t had experience assisting clients with security vulnerability assessments, filing site security plans or facilitating pre-authorization visits, they would be well-served to find a teaming partner who can assist in expediting requirements identification. DHS currently estimates it takes regulated facilities up to 250 man-hours to prepare a submission. Utilization of an experienced consulting firm can substantially reduce the pain and labor burden of becoming compliant with CFATS.

You can contact Frank for more information on compliance implementation strategies, or visit a recent article published in Chemical Processing Magazine that features his recommendations http://www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2009/241.html