With recent investigations by the Food Standards Agency into compliance of hygiene regulations, many food production factories and supermarkets are looking at CCTV surveillance solutions to help retain the trust of their customers.
Slaughterhouses in England are now required by law have CCTV surveillance operative. Therefore, only time will tell if the FSA implements this law across all food manufacturing plants. The law would give them unprecedented access to a site’s CCTV footage and would help reduce the number of investigations.
However, it’s not just monitoring compliance to industry regulations that food manufacturers are considering. With intelligent video analytics now more commonplace, CCTV systems can be used for monitoring performance of food production rates, identifying production line errors and monitoring wash/decontamination areas.
Here we look at some of the security systems recommended for food manufacturing sites.
To preserve brand reputation and customer trust, there are two main systems any food production site should have.
It’s imperative to protect access to all parts of the site. From access to the site via gates/barriers, through to specified access to restricted areas of the food production floor, determining and controlling both employees’ and visitors’ access around the site is crucial. Access control systems can pinpoint individuals’ locations, deny unauthorised access and log staff attendance and timekeeping.
From general site security against break-ins and unauthorised access, through to intelligent video analytics monitoring food production rates, food production errors and more, CCTV systems form an intrinsic part of your site security systems. Many types of surveillance cameras are available to suit the specific need and purpose for each individual area being monitored.
Becoming embroiled in food production scandals can break a business, closing it down for good. By having CCTV cameras monitoring areas such as food production lines, food storage areas, decontamination rooms and packaging processes, you instantly demonstrate commitment to quality and compliance.
Unfortunately deceptive practices do still occur in the food production industry. The latest major scandal was the inclusion of horse meat in many production lines in 2013. Installing CCTV encourages customer confidence and ensure you are compliant with the latest CCTV regulations. Also, should any food contamination issues occur, you can quickly access footage to pinpoint the cause.
Utilising intelligent video analytics, food factories can automatically identify production errors without relying on humans, and also monitor decontamination processes.
With many manufacturers supplying the major supermarkets, keeping production costs to a minimum helps to meet price-driven demands. Consequently, intelligent video systems can monitor production rates, identify areas of concern and improvement, and automatically spot production line errors.
Whilst installing security systems will help deter crime in any industry, food manufacturing is open to crime of many types. Below are some crime rates for the manufacturing sector:
With the crime rate so high in the sector, and the recent scandals in food production impacting on consumer confidence, installing security systems along with intelligent video analytics is imperative to secure business reputation, protect against food production sabotage and improve food production rates.
BusinessWatch specialise in installing and maintaining intelligent video and security systems for food manufacturing plants. Therefore, to discuss your requirements with one of our industry experts, please call us on 0330 094 7404. Alternatively, complete your details and we’ll get back to you asap.
