PSAC case studies
PSAC · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Physical Security Assessment Certificate (PSAC) is a professional credential for practitioners who plan, implement, and evaluate physical protection systems. It suits security managers, consultants, facility and risk officers, and law enforcement or military personnel transitioning to private-sector security. The PSAC case studies are 5 cases and about 3,760 words.
1North Lobby Tailgating and Suspected Credential Sharing
A 14-floor financial services office in a dense downtown has 620 employees, 140 daily contractors, and 12 optical turnstiles across three lobbies. The north lobby handles 62% of morning entries.
829 words, about 4 min2Greenway Fence Line Breaches at a Peak-Season Logistics Hub
A 22-acre logistics hub handles 1,100 trailer movements per month through one main gate and two employee entrances. The north perimeter runs 480 m alongside a public greenway with a footpath; in the last 90 days there were six confirmed fence-line breaches, all after 22:00, with cut mesh and no entry into the building.
751 words, about 4 min3Receiving-Bay Camera Resolution Versus Storage Capacity
A regional distribution center has 64 analog cameras recording D1 resolution at 15 fps with 14-day retention. The receiving bay has two dock doors and a 12 m wide staging area; the nearest camera is mounted 18 m from the trailer seal and uses a 90-degree horizontal field of view.
777 words, about 4 min4Pharmaceutical Warehouse Risk Ranking and Countermeasure Payback
A pharmaceutical distributor operates a 180,000-square-foot warehouse holding 2.4 million of high-value active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a caged vault, 900,000 of temperature-sensitive product in cold rooms, and 180,000 of replaceable copper piping in the mechanical yard. The risk register lists three scenarios: copper theft with annual probability 0.40 and total replacement loss; API pilferage with probability 0.15 and an assumed 30% loss of inventory; and cold-chain spoilage from a power outage with probability 0.08 and 40% loss.
663 words, about 3 min5Ammonia Drill Failure and Fifteen-Minute Accountability
A chemical distribution site employs 340 people across two shifts and stores anhydrous ammonia in a 30-tonne tank. The emergency plan calls for a single site-wide siren, evacuation to one of two assembly areas chosen by wind direction, and accountability by paper roster at each area.
740 words, about 4 min