Keeping Your Construction Site Safe and Secure

Security is a major consideration in all kinds of businesses, but that rings truer in a construction scenario involving property and equipment in the millions of dollars. These valuable items make such sites extremely appealing to vandals or thieves, not to mention those looking to make an easy buck off an opportunistic insurance claim. There are so many avenues for the conniving to exploit, both from within and without your company, which places site security at the top of your priority list.

These security issues are hemorrhaging your profit, but luckily there’s a lot you can do in terms of surveillance and general security to seal loopholes and get ahead of those with ill motives. Before we get to that though, let’s take a look at common problems most construction sites deal with on the daily:

Typical challenges construction sites face:

• Equipment or material theft
  About $600 million worth of equipment falls victim to theft each year, according to the findings of the National Equipment Register, an online database that helps track missing construction valuables. Furthermore, of the entirety of equipment stolen, less than a quarter are ever recovered. Theft is a severe scourge in the construction industry, and it has brought many companies to their knees.It can occur in many ways, with employee theft one of the most common. Small tools such as drills often “go missing,” and over time, they can accumulate to a considerable amount. The same goes for construction material like lumber and copper, among others, as some employees dip into the resources of one job to cut costs on another construction gig they are working on the side.

• Property damage and vandalism
  Trespassers and vandals can cause expensive damage to the site either through a lack of training or by intentional malice as a result of some perceived wrongdoing or simply for the twisted fun of it. You can’t always keep an eye out on who’s coming and going, and perimeter boundaries can only do so much. These damages mean you’ll be spending precious time and money on work you may have already completed, causing deadline delays and a ballooning budget.

• Insurance problems and accidents
  With towering scaffoldings, exposed rooftops, and dozens of workers in the mix, accidents are a serious concern for any construction site. You worry not only about slips, falls, or injuries from actual accidents but also staged incidents geared at cracking open the insurance wallet. Consequently, it’s important to put security measures in place to prevent insurance fraud while ensuring employee safety at all times.

 

Security solutions for construction site security issues:

When looking for remedies to your construction woes, you’d want solutions that are effective and pocket-friendly as well. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do without paying through the nose, the majority of which entails pre-emptive action. After all, the best way to deal with a problem is ensuring that the problem doesn’t become a problem in the first place.

Here are some excellent strategies that many construction companies have continually implemented with substantiated success:

• Hire security guards

  Security guards are the number one deterent to theft and vandalism at construction sites. If you utilize cameras and alarms, construction security guards compliment them as cameras and alarms aren’t always 100% effective on their own. People can get around them by exploiting blind spots and functional flaws, but it’s unlikely they’ll get past professionally trained guards whose mere presence is a turn-off for the opportunistic. Guards can take charge of surveillance chores, which are cumbersome tasks that you could use help with.

• Provide good lighting

  Poor lighting is an invitation for thieves, as they have the blanket of anonymity to their advantage. When the opposite becomes the case, criminals will second guess breaking into a construction site for fear of passersby taking notice and altering the authorities. Lighting also gives the impression that work may still be ongoing, and hence people are still present, so trespassers won’t be eager to try their luck.

• Signage helps too

  Signage outlining measures you’ve put in place can also scare thieves out of attempting a burglary. Don’t just stop at implementing these technological solutions, let those on the outside know as well. They’ll undoubtedly think twice before doing anything that could land them in trouble.

• Store valuables out of sight

  At the end of the workday, you can have someone in charge of taking inventory and ensuring equipment or materials are stored in a safe place. If you’re are short on storage ideas, shipping containers are a safe bet.

• Utilize GPS-tracking for expensive assets

  For equipment with price tags in the millions, GPS technology is a must-have for your peace of mind. If heavy-duty equipment leaves without permission or goes “missing,” finding it won’t be too much of a hassle. As the owner or manager, it’s prudent to keep information regarding any GPS installations to yourself.

 

Last but certainly not least, it might help to seek the input of security and protection compliance professionals to establish protocols that’ll be your safety net against illegalities and fraud. Also, always carry out background checks before hiring workers, and insist on documenting all payments, which should be verifiable by an independent, third party. Aside from lost revenue, construction fraud can land you in hot legal soup with costly consequences. You could turn to experts for fraud monitoring and leave the heavy lifting to them.