Construction site projects can take weeks, months, or even years to complete, during which time a huge amount of materials, tools, and equipment will be used and left on site.
Unfortunately, whilst this is a must if a project is to remain on schedule and budget, it means that construction sites are common targets of theft, which ironically poses an even greater threat to the project’s schedule and budget.
Missing equipment and the cost of replacing lost goods is a serious threat to the construction industry and failing to take action could put the very future of your firm at risk.
Luckily, there are some relatively simple ways for construction companies to protect themselves against theft and keep their equipment, tools, vehicles, and materials safe.
Even more luckily, we have compiled a list of some of the most effective in this article, giving you all the information you need to keep your site secure.
What assets are most at risk?
In order to build an effective security strategy, you first need to identify the key assets that require the most attention.
On construction sites, the main things that are appealing targets to criminals include:
- Tools – Handheld tools are easy to leave lying around, relatively easy for a thief to hide upon their person, and surprisingly expensive. It can also take a while before you notice that the odd tool here and there has gone missing, by which time finding the culprit will be much harder to identify.
- Vehicles – It may sound far-fetched but if vehicles are left fully fuelled, and even worse with the keys left in the ignition, thieves have been known to make off with tractors, diggers, and a variety of other heavy vehicles.
- Materials – Timber, brick, and particularly metals such as copper can be incredibly expensive and hold high resale value, meaning that whilst they are being installed you should pay particular attention to their storage and protection.
7 tips for protecting your construction site from theft
Stopping theft taking place on your site is a major step towards a smooth hassle free construction project.
Following these 7 key tips will help you to deter potential trespassers and make it extremely difficult to steal from your site.
1) Store tools and equipment properly
You would be shocked to learn just how many construction site thefts could have been avoided simply by equipment being stored away correctly after use.
If you know that you will need a tool again the next day it may be tempting to simply leave it in the area ready for tomorrow but ensuring you return it to the locked container where it belongs is the safest option.
2) Screen Employees thoroughly
No one likes to think that their employees are capable of stealing from them but workplace theft is a very real threat and conducting background checks on your employees before you hire them is a good way to minimise this risk.
3) Install fencing
Fencing at least 2m in height should be installed around your construction site. This might not prevent a determined criminal from gaining access but it will put off the opportunistic thief and will make it a lot harder for someone to get inside without being detected.
4) Keep your site well lit
Keep the property well lit during the night so that there are fewer places for an intruder to hide should they gain access.
5) Lock all vehicles
Sometimes the easiest steps are the most effective and simply making sure to lock up the vehicles stored on your site overnight is enough to put off thieves.
6) Consider manned guarding
Despite CCTV towers, biometric access control gates, and other security technologies surging in popularity in recent times, the traditional security guard remains one of the most effective ways to prevent criminal activity from taking place.
Not only will their presence alone scare off many criminals from even attempting to target you, but they are also highly trained to deal with those who do. Security guards will also give you helpful advice on ways that you can improve your security systems, monitor CCTV, check the identifications of staff and visitors at the front gate, and generally make your site a much safer place to be.
7) Install CCTV
Construction sites can be vast and are always busy and spotting suspicious activity can be challenging. Having an extensive building site CCTV system in place will allow you to monitor your entire site from a single location, or even from your mobile device. Footage from your building site CCTV cameras can help the police to catch and convict thieves if they do manage to get on site and live feeds can be used by your security team to identify and intercept them in the act.