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High-Value and Secure Cage Controls

Controls for product held in a secure cage or vault, covering how an item is designated high value and by whom, the physical and access standards the cage must meet, a controlled access log with dual custody for entry and for movement, item-level receipt, pick, and issue with a second-person verification, a daily or per-shift reconciliation independent of the general cycle count, camera coverage aimed at the transaction rather than the door, and the discrepancy escalation that runs before the next shift starts.

Audience
The inventory control lead, the operations manager, the loss prevention owner, the supervisors who hold cage access, and the pickers and packers authorized to handle high-value product
Review cycle
semiannual
Last reviewed
2026-08-29
Revision
1

High-Value and Secure Cage Controls: what is in the procedure

7 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.

  1. 01

    Purpose

    Fixed

    This procedure defines how product designated high value is stored, accessed, moved, counted, and reconciled at this facility.

  2. 02

    Scope

    Customized

    This procedure applies to every item designated high value at this facility and to the physical secure areas that hold them: the cage, the vault, the locked room, or the locked cabinet, whichever the facility uses.

  3. 03

    Responsibilities

    Customized

    The cage owner administers the area: maintains the access list, holds and issues the keys or codes, runs the reconciliation, and owns the discrepancy escalation.

  4. 04

    Procedure: Physical Standard, Access List, and the Access Log

    Customized

    1. The secure area is physically defined and hard to defeat: full-height mesh or solid partition to the deck or with a secured top, a single controlled door, a lock the facility controls, and no open panel, gap...

  5. 05

    Procedure: Receipt, Pick, Issue, and Return with Second-Person Verification

    Customized

    1. High-value product is not left in a general receiving or staging area.

  6. 06

    Procedure: Reconciliation, Discrepancies, and Escalation

    Customized

    1. The secure area is reconciled on a cadence far shorter than the general cycle count program, because the value of a short cadence is that it narrows a discrepancy to a shift and a small number of people.

  7. 07

    References

    Fixed

    The high-value designation list with its criteria and its approval record.

Best practice

High-Value and Secure Cage Controls: no regulation to cite

No public-domain regulation governs this procedure, so it cites nothing rather than inventing authority. It documents the process discipline customers, insurers, and auditors ask to see in writing.

Compliance checklist

High-Value and Secure Cage Controls: what an inspector looks for

  • A written designation list names every high-value item and the criterion that put it there, approved by the named authority and communicated to the floor

  • The secure area is enclosed to the required standard with a single controlled door, and any known physical gap has an open corrective action

  • The secure area was found locked and unoccupied or locked and occupied by authorized handlers, never propped, blocked, or left open

  • The access list is current, approved, posted, reviewed on the stated cadence, and reconciled against the active roster with access removed on the day of any departure or role change

  • Every entry appears on the access log with time in, time out, all persons present, and purpose, and dual custody entries carry two signatures with no waived exceptions

  • High-value receipts were moved into the secure area the same shift and counted at item level by one handler and verified by a second

  • Picks and issues are recorded transaction by transaction at the time they are made, with a second-person verification of item and quantity and both names captured

  • Serial or unique identifiers are captured at receipt and again at issue for every item that carries them

  • No product left the secure area without a system transaction, and no informal borrow, sample, or unrecorded removal appears in the record

  • Reconciliation was performed on the stated cadence by two people, at least one of whom did not pick from the cage that shift, and every count result is recorded whether or not it matched

  • Every discrepancy was recounted by a different pair, escalated the same shift when it survived, and had access logs, transactions, and camera footage pulled before the retention window expired

  • High-value adjustments carry the named approval and the customer agreement where required, and every confirmed loss or repeat discrepancy has a corrective action on the control that failed

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Also worth reading: Preventive Maintenance Program for MHE, Doors, and Dock Equipment, Returns Disposition and Restock and Forklift templates.

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This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.