Level of access for a contract worker, e.g., construction

Hello all, I have a question about what everyone thinks the level of access should be for a contract worker who is doing construction in our building.  There was the suggestion that we consider loaning out our key fob so that every time the worker has to get tools, materials, etc., they don't have to keep getting an employee to let them in. I know we don't want to have to stay with the worker all day, but our policy is that we escort all visitors, and it seems to me like a possible food defense risk.  Maybe there is a way to further qualify a contract service provider, e.g., with extra background checks, so that they can get to a higher level of trust?  We manufacture dietary supplements in the United States and are under 21 CFR Part 121. Matthew

Hi Matthew,

Food defense program is a tool to prevent intentional adulteration of the product product, one of the most important concerns in this program to keep the sensitive areas like control panels and water tanks and other things which related to product secured, so these area if secured (no one has an acess to these areas except the authorized persons) then, 

we can go safely to step 2 which talking about visitors escrot , simply the area owner that this contractor work in is the responsible for it, as an example i'm working into the packaging of finish product area so one of my duties will be watching this contractor and giving him advices about this for extra security safety and quality representative will do monitoring for contractor performance and checking if he is sticked with the rules that he had before doing his job or not (an induction about personal hygiene, visitor policy and food defense principales shall be given to him).

the final step is filling your report about the visit and that's all.

Our "Visitor Policy" separates all people who enter the building into categories and describes the level of oversight for each. They are: Sales, Vendors, Contractors and Other. Sales, Vendors and Other visitors are all escorted by their "Host" at all times during their visit, while contractors are not required to be escorted but must fill out additional documents regarding tool accountability, GMPs and safety behavior and must wear a bright green colored safety vest. We also have our HID entry system programmed with a "Contractor" access schedule that limits the times they can access the building and only gives access to 2 doors. Once they are finished, they turn in the HID card.

So a Visitor proper is not, by definition, a contractor as long as you differentiate as such in your policy / procedure.