Review - ChemLock – Secure Your Chemicals – Delay

NOTE: On November 18^th, 2021, CISA announced their new voluntary chemical security program, ChemLock. This post is part of a deep dive into that program. Earlier posts in this series include:

CISA Announces ChemLock – Voluntary Chemical Facility Security (short version)

ChemLock and the Chemical Security Summit

ChemLock – On-Site Assessments and Assistance (short version)

ChemLock – Secure Your Chemicals – Overview (short version)

ChemLock – Secure Your Chemicals – Detect (short version)

While early detection of an attack on the chemical facility is certainly important, the longer an attacker is delayed from reaching their chemical targets the more time the facility and its security response have react appropriately to the attack. This is the reason behind Chapter 4 of the ChemLock Secure Your Chemicals manual, ‘Delay’. This chapter provides a brief overview of:

• Perimeter and asset barriers

• Physical locking mechanisms

• Access control

• Inspections

• Screenings

• Know-your-customer program

As I mentioned in the previous post in this series, the discussions in this section fall far short of providing facility security officers with all of the knowledge necessary to implement delay features in their facility security plans. It provides an overview of considerations to help FSO’s ask the right questions of CSI, vendors and integrators.