Discussion Question:  For this week’s assigned reading, you were to select one of the 16 sector specific plans associates with a critical infrastructure sector of your choosing.  For this week's forum report, tell us which critical infrastructure plan you read and explain the vital role the private sector plays carrying out the objectives of this document. Instructions: Fully utilize the materials that have been provided to you in order to support your response. Your initial post should be at least 350 words. Please respond to at least two other students. Lesson Week Six – Critical Infrastructure (Private Sector) In previous lessons, we have examined how the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors come to bear upon risk at the national and local levels of government.  Since the private sector owns and/or operates the vast majority of this infrastructure, no discussion of risk to our nation or to our communities is complete without bringing this tremendous asset into consideration. The private sector plays a tremendous part related to risk, as it can be a contributor to it, as well as an aid in lessening its impact.  In addition, the manner in which the private sector withstands and recovers from disaster events is a significant determining factor in the resiliency of our local communities, and of our nation as a whole. This week, we look at the integral role that the private sector plays in the determination of risk. We will do this in light of the six strategic challenges that have been noted previously, and within the parameters of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors. So what defines or makes up the private sector? According to DHS, it includes “businesses, industries, private schools and universities” that are essential components of our communities, and are expected to carry out a wide range of critical roles (DHS, 2014, p. 91). As mentioned previously, the lion’s share of the nation’s infrastructure is owned or ran by the private sector; and therefore, it is responsible for the immediate security of its facilities, associated property, and for employee safety. In most cases, there is a working relationship that has been established between the private and public sectors; and this can be seen at both the local national levels. This partnership has always existed to one degree or another, oftentimes carried out in a very casual, unstructured manner. Yet, with the introduction of the National Preparedness System in late 2011, the formulation and operation of these relationships has become more structured. Yet, as highlighted in the 2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan, benefits must be provided to all partners if the relationship is to be an effective one. The value proposition as it relates to government is quite clear, in that coordinating with infrastructure stakeholders has a direct impact upon preserving public safety and ensuring national security. Therefore, it is up to government at all levels to recognize.

1. Discussion Question: For this week’s assigned reading, you
were to select one of the 16 sector specific plans associates with
a critical infrastructure sector of your choosing. For this week's
forum report, tell us which critical infrastructure plan you read
and explain the vital role the private sector plays carrying out
the objectives of this document.
Instructions: Fully utilize the materials that have been provided
to you in order to support your response. Your initial post
should be at least 350 words. Please respond to at least two
other students.
Lesson
Week Six – Critical Infrastructure (Private Sector)
In previous lessons, we have examined how the nation’s 16
critical infrastructure sectors come to bear upon risk at the
national and local levels of government. Since the private
sector owns and/or operates the vast majority of this
infrastructure, no discussion of risk to our nation or to our
communities is complete without bringing this tremendous asset
into consideration. The private sector plays a tremendous part
related to risk, as it can be a contributor to it, as well as an aid
in lessening its impact. In addition, the manner in which the
private sector withstands and recovers from disaster events is a
significant determining factor in the resiliency of our local
communities, and of our nation as a whole. This week, we look
at the integral role that the private sector plays in the
determination of risk. We will do this in light of the six
strategic challenges that have been noted previously, and within
the parameters of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors.
So what defines or makes up the private sector? According to
DHS, it includes “businesses, industries, private schools and
universities” that are essential components of our communities,
and are expected to carry out a wide range of critical roles

2. (DHS, 2014, p. 91). As mentioned previously, the lion’s share
of the nation’s infrastructure is owned or ran by the private
sector; and therefore, it is responsible for the immediate
security of its facilities, associated property, and for employee
safety. In most cases, there is a working relationship that has
been established between the private and public sectors; and
this can be seen at both the local national levels. This
partnership has always existed to one degree or another,
oftentimes carried out in a very casual, unstructured manner.
Yet, with the introduction of the National Preparedness System
in late 2011, the formulation and operation of these
relationships has become more structured. Yet, as highlighted in
the 2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan, benefits must
be provided to all partners if the relationship is to be an
effective one. The value proposition as it relates to government
is quite clear, in that coordinating with infrastructure
stakeholders has a direct impact upon preserving public safety
and ensuring national security. Therefore, it is up to government
at all levels to recognize the commercial interest that exists
within the private sector, as well as encouraging industry to be
an active participant in the overall national interest through a
variety of engagement efforts (DHS, 2013).
Let us look at a local level example of this partnership and how
it factors into risk at a specific geographic level. In this
scenario, we will assume the existence of a chemical plant that
is situated in an industrial area of a county. This chemical plant
is a major employer for the area in which it resides. The plant
manufactures chlorine, which is an essential chemical building
block and is used in the manufacturing of hundreds of everyday
items from garden hoses to seat belts to prescription
eyewear. So the usefulness of this product makes the plant a
direct contributor to the well-being of several of the 16 critical
infrastructure sectors. At the local level, the chlorine plant is
viewed as both a hazard and recovery element. However, in its
raw form, it is an extremely hazardous material.
The county itself in this scenario is unremarkable. It is not

3. prone to abnormally high occurrences disaster events, and it
carries no great symbolic or other assets or factors that might
make it standout as a potential target for terrorist activity. In
the county’s threat and hazard analysis conducted in accordance
with the Department of Homeland Security’s Threat and Hazard
Identification and Risk Assessment Guide, Comprehensive
Preparedness Guide, the plant itself is classified as a medium to
high level risk to the county. Fortunately, no significant
incident has ever occurred at the plant. However, the lack of
warning should an incident occur, as well as the serious
consequences in terms of life, property, environment, etc.
within the county should an incident occur drive the risk factor
up considerably.
Ideally, partnership actions between the plant’s private sector
representatives and county government officials through various
agencies and departments would keep the risk rating at a
manageable level. The plant’s owners bear responsibility for the
physical security of the facility, and for the plant’s operational
integrity. In short, as a privately owned facility, the owners are
responsible for ensuring the facility’s ability to prevent disaster
occurrences when possible, and to respond and recover from
them in an effective manner if and when they do occur. This
said, the plant is a county ‘resident’ and enjoys the protection
of county law enforcement and fire and response services, as do
all other county residents. Examples of prudent partnership
activities between plant and county might include collaborative
planning activities, the formulation of cooperative agreements
supported, joint education and training exercises involving plant
employees and county responders, full disclosure to county
agencies of the dangers of an accidental release of hazardous
airborne materials, company funding of specialized responder
equipment needed by local responders, as well as certain tax
and other economic incentives provided to this plant and its
owners. These are just a few of the countless ways in which
these stakeholders can work together in order to achieve goals
that benefit all concerned.

4. As a major employer for the county, the plant will also figure
into the county’s recovery efforts and into the determination of
the consequence portion of the risk formula for any disaster
event striking the county. If the plant is forced to close or
reduce operations because of a critical incident that occurred,
the overall local economy suffers. The county’s ability to
restore services to the plant would also factor into the
consequences portion of the overall risk assessment. Where
gaps exist between what has determined to be an ideal recovery
time and that which currently exists, desired capabilities and
improvements are noted. Then, a defined, coordinated “plan of
action” can be developed and instituted, ideally by both partners
in this relationship.
As would be expected, risk and responsibility from the
perspective of the private owner of the plant will differ from
that of the county. Here, the financial cost to the company
should a disaster take place at the facility will be a major
consideration. The need to maintain brand resiliency merits
consideration, as will the need to reduce possible litigation
actions. In most cases, the owner’s interests in bringing the
plant up to normal operations following a disaster event will
correspond nicely with the recovery needs of the county; but
there are times in which a conflict could occur. The company
owning the plant will place its own financial interest above that
of the community’s, and if the company’s interests dictates that
the plant close following a disaster event, then the plant will
close.
At the national level, the tremendous involvement of the private
sector in our nation’s critical infrastructure is obvious. The
federal government is committed to the protection of that
infrastructure as it relates to the six strategic challenges
previously noted, but needs private sector assistance to provide
that protection. Federal regulation accounts for some of this
joint protection. For example, the healthcare and nuclear
industries are heavily regulated and include required disaster
related planning and related measures that private companies

5. must implement within their facilities. Fiduciary concerns
related to loss of income and possibilities of litigation can
account for other forms of private sector
cooperation. Adherence to required or voluntary national
standards established by federal agencies or to voluntary
standards established by non-profit trade organizations can
provide companies with a significant degree of litigation related
protection as well.
In conclusion, in a democratic and capitalist society, profit
itself provides a large degree of private sector motivation in
partnership activities with government. For example,
government entities at all levels and private corporations (and
universities) have entered into a number of business
relationships for companies to develop and provide protection
and counter measures to hostile cyber actions by foreign
governments, terrorists, and criminal organizations. Managing
cyber related risk directly corresponds to each of the six
strategic challenges and to nearly all of the critical
infrastructure sectors. Perhaps the greatest point that needs to
be kept in mind regarding the public/private sector partnership
is that it is largely driven by the perception of risk and
innovation. Private organizations will develop possible
responses to all six strategic challenges based upon contracts
and agreements provided by government, upon their sense of
innovation as they strive to seek possibilities not yet seen by
their government counterparts, and upon their own financial
need for security and resiliency against probable threats and
hazards that seek to interrupt normal daily operations.
References
Department of Homeland Security (2013). National
infrastructure protection plan (NIPP), partnering for critical
infrastructure security and resilience. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office.
Department of Homeland Security (2014). 2014 Quadrennial
homeland security review.Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office.

6. Course Objective - Examine Vessel and Cargo Operations, the
current terrorism threats to port maritime operations, Access
Controls and Physical Security Issues in the Port Facility, and
Safety and Emergency Management measures.
Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 350 words.
Lesson
Port Facility Safety and Emergency Management and
Technology
“The types of operations that occur day in and day out in
modern port facilities include significant levels of industrial
activities that lend themselves to risks of death, personal injury,
and property damage”…Kenneth Christopher, Port Security
Management.
Safety Management in the Port Facility
In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) was born from legislation enacted to provide a safe
working environment for U.S. employees. This act was
applicable to both the public and private sector. U.S Port
facilities are exposed to many safety and potential emergency
management challenges considering the multitude of port
operations engaged with vessels, cargo, and transportation
activities ongoing in daily port activities. As a result, a Port
Safety Officer (PSO) must be appointed to manage the port
facilities’ safety and risk management programs. The PSO will
be responsible for establishing and maintaining an accident
prevention program to educate employees and to prevent on-the-
job accidents. The PSO is the liaison between the port facility
administration and OSHA (Christopher, 2015).
Safety program management in the port is essential to daily port
production and the health and welfare of the entire workforce.
Below is an excellent OSHA video that discusses actual
incidents that occurred in U.S. shipyards, to include an analysis
of what happened and how to prevent such deadly incidents.

7. Unfortunately, all these events depicted in the video resulted in
loss of life. Though the video is 40 minutes in length, you are
encourage you to view it in its entirety, as it covers the majority
of safety issues one would find in the port or shipyard.
Situational Awareness/Situational Readiness (SA/SR)
The Effect on Port Safety and Emergency Management
On December 17, 2003, President Bush signed the Homeland
Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-8. The PD-8 directive
established policy to strengthen and enhance emergency
preparedness in order to effectively prevent and respond to
natural and manmade threats or domestic terrorist attacks.
After HSPD-8 was published, the National Response Plan was
developed to manage incidents by coordinating efforts between
federal, state and local departments as well as the private sector
to respond more efficiently to a community incidents. In 2008,
the National Response Framework replaced the National
Response Plan and it specifically defined the roles and structure
of how the federal government would engage in a “national
response doctrine” with all levels of government including the
private sector (DHS/FEMA).
After watching the video, it should be obvious that awareness is
paramount to the safety and security of the port or any shipyard
facility. As stated in the week six assigned reading, the port
FSP (Facility Security Plan) must be a living document. It is not
applicable if it is only published and not updated. Moreover, the
FSP must articulate the construct and nature of two critical
elements that impact port safety and security, SA and SR.
Situational awareness is simply defined as understanding your
environment and the threats that one may face within that
environment. Situational awareness also requires port managers
to have a full and realistic view of the practices, procedures,
and resources available to them during an emergency situation.
Situational readiness concerns many of those same concepts as
awareness, but replies on force capabilities and considers
whether or not an organization is actually ready to respond to an
incident. Once the port authority plans and procedures have

8. been identified the PSO must ensure that they are ready to
respond based on those plans. Acquiring needed resources,
maintaining inter and intra-agency relations, and practicing
response plans in the form of test and exercises, all fall under
situational readiness. When combined, knowledge of situational
awareness and readiness allows PSO’s to provide a far higher
level of safety and security, regardless of the situation they may
be faced with.
Emergency situations, by definition, typically include an
element of urgency. Time is a crucial factor in addressing
threats, limiting damage, and mitigating risk. Therefore, the
sooner appropriate action can be taken in a crisis, the more
effective the response becomes. Absent SA and SR within the
port, a natural or manmade incident will likely result in
increased loss of life and or destroyed facilities or sea vessels.
Being knowledgeable and ready to act in the event of an
incident is the most important job for everyone!
Managing Technology
Solution
s for Port Facility Security
New technology being considered for integration or already in
use requires that the port security manager have a
comprehensive and complex understanding of that technology.
The port security manager must ensure the technology is
considered and discussed within a port facility security plan.
The inability to comprehend the systems in place and how all
applications and sensor systems interact will jeopardize the
ability to maintain SA and SR.

9. In general, advanced technology systems integration is vital to
port operations safety and security because it gives those
charged with protecting the port an advanced warning of
unusual occurrences that could arise during port and shipyard
operations. Port security management can only inspect the
surface, while advanced technology systems and applications
can search beneath the surface. For example, x-ray machines
and infrared security cameras demonstrate how these
components of technology are so imperative. The capability to
locate and determine if certain situations, events and personnel
are a threat to port and maritime operations is critical. These
types of technology systems would give security management
personnel the means to see the threats that would not normally
be able to be detected by the human eye. This equipment and
technology also keeps the security personnel more secured and
safe because it allows them to approach the threat or risk with a
better understanding of what risks and threats are involved.
With the combination of effective security management and
advanced technology integration, safety and security threats are
alleviated and eliminated before they actually become an
issue.
As Christopher (2015) discussed, situational
awareness…whether on a personal or facility-wide level, aids in
the early detection of potential problems. More time equates to
more options, or the opportunity to implement previously

10. developed response plans. In addition, planning itself can be
influenced by an awareness of the operational security
environment, both inside and outside of the facility itself. Also,
a good deal of SA can be gained by having a culture where port
workers report things that appear to be out of place or just don't
look right. The port security manager must motivate the work
force to understand the potential damage to port facilities and
personal consequences to them by failing to report unusual
situations. They will be more inspired to report even seemingly
innocuous situations to the port security command center.
Having a strong security awareness program and constantly
promoting a healthy security and safety culture helps to increase
worker's buy-in for the port safety and security program.
Likewise, having effective situational readiness in a port allows
for the quick deployment of resources once a potentially
threatening or hazardous situation becomes apparent. As
mentioned above, training is an important aspect of situational
readiness, since many emergencies do not allow the luxury of
having time to develop and examine situations in great detail.
Bottom line, critical decisions must be made, and correct
actions taken quickly. It is not advisable to wait until you smell
smoke to start thinking about a fire escape plan. While specific
conditions may certainly impact existing plans, early detection
through advance technology sensors (increases situational
awareness) allows time to implement response plans (increases

11. situational readiness), making the combination of these two
conditions extremely important.
Lastly, technology serves as a force multiplying element for
port security functions. It can make the detection of illicit or
hazardous cargo much more efficient and effective than “low-
tech” measures alone. A primary way in which this helps is in
the identification of cargo which warrants closer inspection by
security personnel. Considering the huge amounts of cargo
which are received by port facilities, close inspection of every
container is practically impossible to achieve without choking
the whole process down. Technology can help isolate areas
where additional attention is needed, while affecting the
majority of legitimate cargo processing as little as possible, or
in fact expediting such processing. Technology, such as
automated and remote surveillance devices, is not just useful for
alarming us for safety events (fire, toxic environmental, etc.),
but also any important situation or event impacting the general
port security structure. Advanced technology within the port
ultimately supports safety and security while conducting port
operations across the full spectrum of cargo and non-cargo
operations (Christopher, 2009, pp. 252-253).
New technology being used in port maritime security shows the
complex technology that port security managers must consider
within a port facility security plan.
· X-ray and radiation portal monitoring equipment scan cargo

12. containers
· Intelligent video systems for monitoring cargo and activities
in port terminals
· Crane-mounted sensors to scan containers during lifting and
port–vessel transfer processes
· Radio frequency identification tags on cargo containers to
track movement and location
· Intelligent device management to monitor changes in cargo
container dynamics
· Maritime domain awareness systems incorporating diverse
technologies to maintain situational awareness in the maritime
sector
References
Christopher, K. (2015). Port Security Management, 2nd Ed.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, (ISBN #
13: 978-1-4200- 6893-1) e-book.