If you work in the construction industry you will understand just how important a secure site is to avoiding criminal damage, staying on budget, and maintaining health and safety regulations
Theft and vandalism cost the UK construction industry £800m a year, with 1 in 5 sites reporting weekly thefts of materials or equipment according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Building.
For this reason alone, it is essential that you have excellent construction site security in place or your project will quickly become a financial nightmare, delaying builds by months, and leading to unhappy customers that can damage your reputation.
What security threats do construction sites face?
Theft
By their very nature, construction sites are attractive targets to thieves.
Construction projects require a huge amount of expensive equipment, materials, and vehicles that it is not practical to remove at the end of every working day and must be stored on site.
The most common targets of theft include open sheds or containers, expensive building materials such as copper pipes, and power tools left unattended.
Once workers have gone home the risk of criminal activity rises significantly and it is essential that you have both a manned guard presence and remote monitoring technology in place to ensure your site is protected.
Vandalism
Open construction sites are also vulnerable to vandalism and given that these crimes tend to be more impulsive than theft it is unlikely that deterrents will be effective in stopping such incidents.
It is, therefore, essential that you have security in place to identify and either intercept intruders as quickly as possible or gather evidence to secure a conviction and successful insurance claim post-event.
If such protection is not in place, you could find yourself losing thousands of pounds every project replacing and repairing damaged property.
Safety
Construction sites have plenty of unavoidable hazards including working machinery and heavy objects being moved around on a constant basis.
This means that the risk of workplace injury is higher than in most other industries. A comprehensive security system can help you make sure that the safety protocols you have put in place to help mitigate the risk of injury are being followed.
A CCTV system can also protect you against false liability claims as you will be able to prove that any incidents that do occur were not caused as a result of your negligence.
Productivity
If workers are aware that they may be under observation whilst on site they are likely to work harder and progress will be made at a much faster rate.
You will also be able to use your security system to identify any areas of the site that are not as productive as others and take steps to resolve this whether by speaking to staff or reallocating resources.
Construction Site Security Methods
Prime Secure have been delivering the latest security solutions to customers in the construction industry for over 25 years and offers a range of options to help you develop a comprehensive security system.
Effective construction site security methods include:
CCTV
As well as catching thieves and vandals in the act and being key to securing prosecutions, CCTV is a fantastic way to prevent crime from occurring at all.
CCTV acts as a visual deterrent and most thieves will move on from your site once they see you have a system in place to look elsewhere for an easier target.
Your cameras can also be used by your security staff to locate ongoing situations and provide a fast response.
Security Guards
SIA licensed security guards from Prime Secure will help you keep your site protected against intruders, acting not only as a visual deterrent but using their years of experience to identify and eradicate weak spots in your existing security system.
On larger construction sites, frequent dedicated patrols from security officers are essential to keeping an eye on what is going on, preventing crime, and keeping your staff and property secure.
If an incident does occur, security guards are fully trained in conflict resolution, have contacts with the emergency services, and will often be able to stop criminals in the act.
Access Control
Controlling who is on your construction site at any time is the key to effective security.
Prime Secure’s V-Stile biometric access control systems ensure only authorised personal are able to enter your site and come in a variety of forms from mobile and tablet devices to lockable turnstile systems.
The biometric nature of this turnstile offers an additional level of security to traditional entry gate systems as they use the physical data of registered users as opposed to a key card that can be borrowed or stolen.