Food Defense Self-Assessment Checklist for

Slaughter and Processing Plants

Outside Security

1. What food defense measures does your plant have in place for the exterior of the building?
Yes No N/A
Are the plant’s grounds secured to prevent entry by unauthorized persons (e.g., by locked fence,
gate or entry/exit doors)?
Is there enough lighting outside the building to properly monitor the plant at night/early
morning?
Do emergency exits have self-locking doors and/or alarms?

2. Are the following secured with locks, seals, or sensors when unattended (after hours/weekends)
to prevent entry by unauthorized persons?
Yes No N/A
Outside doors and gates?
Windows?
Roof openings?
Vent openings?
Trailer (truck) bodies?
Tanker truck hatches?
Railcars?
Bulk storage tanks/Silos?

3. Does your facility have food defense procedures for people and/or vehicles entering the plant
and/or parking in your lot?
Yes No N/A
Does the property have a controlled or guarded entrance?
Are employee vehicles identified using placards, decals, or some other form of visual
identification?
Are authorized visitor/guest vehicles identified using placards, decals, or some other form of
visual identification?

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
 General Inside Security

4. Does your facility have food defense measures inside the establishment?
Yes No N/A
Is there an emergency lighting system in the facility?
Does your plant have monitored security cameras (CCTV)?
Does your plant have an emergency alert system that is tested regularly?
Are the locations of controls for emergency alert systems clearly marked?
Are all restricted areas (i.e., areas where only authorized employees have access) clearly
marked?
Are visitors, guests, and other non-employees (e.g., contractors, salespeople, truck drivers)
restricted to non-product areas unless accompanied by an authorized employee?

Does local law enforcement (including the fire department) have up-to-date copies of facility
layouts/blueprints?
Are procedures in place to check toilets, maintenance closets, personal lockers, and storage areas
for suspicious packages?
Do you regularly take inventory of potentially dangerous tools and utensils (e.g., knives)?

Do you regularly take inventory of keys to secured/sensitive areas of the facility?

Are ventilation systems constructed in a manner that provides for immediate isolation of
contaminated areas or rooms?

5. Are the controls for the following systems restricted (e.g., by locked door/gate or limiting
access to designated employees) to prevent access by unauthorized persons? (Helpful information
is provided at the following website: www.cdc.gov/niosh/bldvent/2002-139.html )
Yes No N/A
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems?
Propane Gas?
Water systems?
Electricity?
Disinfection systems?
Clean-in-place (CIP) systems or other centralized chemical systems?

6. Does your plant collect and analyze samples in-house for microbiological, chemical or
physical hazards?
Yes
No [Go to Question 8]
USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service
December 2007
7. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for its in-plant
laboratory facilities, equipment, and operations?

Yes No N/A
Is access to the in-plant laboratory facility restricted to authorized employees? (e.g., by locked
door, pass card, etc.)
Is a procedure in place to control receipt of samples received from other establishments?

Is a procedure in place to receive and securely store reagents?

Is a procedure in place to control and dispose of reagents?

8. Does your facility use a computer system to monitor processing operations?

Yes
No [Go to Question 10 under Slaughter and Processing Security]

9. Does your facility have food defense procedures in place for its computer systems?
Yes No N/A
Is the access to the system password-protected? (Helpful information is provided at the
following website: http://www.umich.edu/~policies/pw-security.html)

Are firewalls built into the computer network?

Is the system using a current virus detection system?

Slaughter and Processing Security

10. Which of the following food defense procedures does this facility have in place for its slaughter
and processing operations?
Yes No N/A
Is access to product production/slaughter and holding pen areas restricted to establishment
employees and FSIS inspection personnel only?
Are lines that handle and transfer products, water, oil, or other ingredients monitored to ensure
integrity?
Are packages of ingredients examined for evidence of tampering before use?
Is access to in-plant irradiation equipment and materials restricted?
Are records maintained to allow easy trace-back of raw materials to suppliers?
Are records maintained so as to allow easy trace-forward of finished products to vendors?

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
Storage Security

11. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for its storage
areas?
Yes No N/A
Is access to raw product storage areas, including cold and dry storage areas restricted (e.g., by
locked door/gate or other) to designated employees?
Is an access log maintained for raw product storage areas?
Is access to non-meat ingredient storage areas restricted to designated employees only?

Is an access log maintained for non-meat ingredient storage areas?

Is access to finished product storage areas restricted to designated employees?
Is access to external storage facilities restricted to designated employees only?
Do you conduct regular security inspections of storage facilities (including temporary storage
vehicles)?
Do you maintain records on facility security inspections results?
Is the inventory of restricted ingredients (i.e., nitrites, etc) checked against the actual use of such
ingredients on a regular basis?
Are product labels and packaging held in a controlled manner to prevent theft and misuse?
Is the inventory of finished products regularly checked for unexplained additions and
withdrawals from existing stock?

12. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for the storage
of hazardous materials/chemicals such as pesticides, industrial chemicals, cleaning materials,
sanitizers, and disinfectants?

Yes No N/A
Is the access to inside and outside storage areas for hazardous materials/chemicals such as
pesticides, industrial chemicals, cleaning materials, sanitizers, and disinfectants restricted in some
manner to allow use by designated employees only?

Is a regular inventory of hazardous materials/chemicals maintained?

Are discrepancies in daily inventory of hazardous materials/chemicals immediately investigated?

Are the storage areas for hazardous materials/chemicals constructed and safely vented in
accordance with national or local building codes?
Is a procedure in place to receive and securely store hazardous chemicals?
Is a procedure in place to control disposition of hazardous chemicals?

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
 Shipping and Receiving Security

13. Does your facility have food defense procedures in place for its shipping and receiving
operations? (Helpful information is provided at the following website:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/topics/transportguide.htm)
Yes No
Are trailers on the premises maintained under lock and/or seal when not being loaded or
unloaded?
Are tanker trucks on the premises maintained under lock and seal when not being loaded or
unloaded?
Is the loading and unloading of vehicles transporting raw materials, finished products, or other
materials used in food processing closely monitored?

14. Does your facility have food defense procedures in place for handling outgoing shipments?

Yes No
Are outgoing shipments sealed with tamper-evident seals?
Are the seal numbers on outgoing shipments documented on the shipping documents?

Are tanker trucks and/or rail cars inspected to detect the presence of any material, solid or
liquid, in tanks prior to loading liquid products?
Do you keep records of the above-referenced inspections of tanker trucks and/or rail cars?
Are chain-of-custody records maintained for tanker trucks and/or rail cars?

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
15. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for handling
incoming shipments?
Yes No
Is access to loading docks controlled to avoid unverified or unauthorized deliveries?

Is advance notification from suppliers (by phone, e-mail, or fax) required for all incoming
deliveries?
Are suspicious alterations in the shipping documents immediately investigated?

Are all deliveries checked against the roster of scheduled deliveries?

Are unscheduled deliveries held outside facility premises pending verification?
Are off-hour deliveries accepted?
If off-hour deliveries are accepted, is prior notice of the delivery required?
If off-hour deliveries are accepted, is the presence of an authorized individual to verify and
receive the delivery required?
Are less-than-truckload (LTL) or partial load shipments vehicles checked?
Are incoming shipments of raw product, ingredients, and finished products required to be sealed
with tamper-evident or numbered seals (and documented in the shipping documents)? Are
these seals verified prior to entry?
Do you check incoming shipments of raw product, ingredients, and finished products at the
receiving dock for evidence of tampering?
Is the FSIS Public Health Veterinarian notified immediately when animals with unusual behavior
and/or symptoms are received?
Are the feed and drinking water supplies for live animals protected from possible intentional
contamination?
Are transportation companies selected with consideration of the company’s ability to safeguard
the security of product/animals being shipped?
Do the transportation companies perform background checks on drivers and other employees
who have access to product/animals?
Have your ingredient suppliers taken steps to strengthen food defense in their facilities and
during transport?
When choosing your compressed gas vendor do you consider whether or not they have
implemented food defense measures?
When choosing your packaging materials and labels vendor do you consider whether or not they
have implemented food defense measures?

16. Does this facility allow returned goods, including returns of U.S. exported products, to enter
the plant?

Yes
No [Go to Question 18 under Water and Ice Security]

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
17. Which of the following food defense procedures does this facility have in place for returned
goods?
Yes No
Are all returned goods examined at a separate designated location in the plant for evidence of possible
tampering before salvage or use in rework?
Are records maintained of returned goods used in rework?
Does the plant follow the procedures outlined in FSIS Directive 9010.1 for return of U.S. exported
products? (Helpful information is provided at the following website:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/opped/rdad/fsisdirectives/9010-1.pdf)

Water and Ice Security

18. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for its water
and ice supply? (Helpful information is provided at the following website:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/eco/drinkwater/pdfs/drinkingH2Ofactsheet.pdf)

Yes No
Is access to water wells restricted? (e.g., by locked door/gate or limiting access to designated
employees)
Is access to ice-making equipment restricted?
Is access to ice storage facilities restricted?
Is access to storage tanks for potable water restricted?
Is access to water reuse systems restricted?
Are potable water lines periodically inspected for possible tampering? (i.e., visual inspection for
physical integrity of infrastructure etc.)?
Are non-potable water lines inspected for possible tampering (i.e., visual inspection for physical
integrity of infrastructure, connection to potable lines, etc.)?
Have arrangements been made with local health officials to ensure immediate notification of the plant
if the potability of the public water supply is compromised?

Mail Handling Security

19. Which of the following food defense procedures does this facility have in place to ensure mail
handling security?

Yes No
Is mail handling activity conducted in a separate room or facility away from in-plant food
production/processing operations?
Are mail-handlers trained to recognize and handle suspicious pieces of mail using U.S. Postal Service
guidelines? (Helpful information is provided at the following website:
http://www.usps.com/news/2001/press/serviceupdates.htm)

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007
 Personnel Security

20. Which of the following food defense procedures does your facility have in place for ensuring
that personnel adhere to the security requirements?

Yes No
Are background checks conducted on all employees and contractors (both permanent and seasonal)
who will be working in sensitive operations?
Do all plant employees receive training on security procedures as part of their orientation training?

Are employees, visitors, and contractors (including construction workers, cleaning crews, and truck
drivers) identified in some manner at all times while on the premises?

Does your plant control access by employees and contractors entering the plant during working hours
(e.g. coded doors, receptionist on duty, swipe card, etc.)?

Does your plant control entry of employees and contractors into the plant during non-working hours
(e.g. access limited by key card or code number)?
Does your plant have a way to restrict temporary employees and contractors (including construction
workers, cleaning crews, and truck drivers) to areas of the plant relevant to their work?

Is there some manner to identify personnel with their specific functions/assignments/departments

(e.g., corresponding colored uniforms)?
Is an updated shift roster (i.e., who is absent, who the replacements are, and when new employees are
being integrated into the workforce) kept by management for each shift?

Does your plant allow personal items within production areas?

Do you inspect employee lockers?
Are employees and/or visitors restricted as to what they can bring (cameras, etc.) into the plant?

Are employees prohibited from removing company-provided clothing or protective gear from the
premises?

USDA/Food Safety and Inspection Service

December 2007