The construction industry has been heavily targeted by thieves looking to make quick money by stealing and selling on expensive site equipment and materials. In 2020, the UK construction industry lost £800 million due to site thefts, vandalism and health and safety neglect.
A recent survey revealed that a massive 21% of the surveyed construction industry professionals claimed that they had been targets of theft on a weekly basis, and 92% said that they had suffered from thefts either weekly, monthly or annually. One of the major concerns was that around half of the thefts had been done by employees or onsite contractors, rather than break-ins to the site.
Vandalism has also been a major issue for construction sites, with 91% respondents in the same survey confirming that their site had been vandalised. Theft and vandalism costs sites a lot of money to rectify, even when insurance policies cover replacement tools and machinery, as there may be a disruption to work in the time taken to replace essential equipment.
Protecting construction sites from theft and vandalism
There are a few different options available to help reduce the likelihood of being targeted by thieves and vandals, including:
Security staff
Employing 24/7 security guards is an option but can end up being a very expensive way to protect your site. Paying the salary of security guards all year round will accumulate to a lot of money.
Controlled entry and exit systems
Having controlled entry and exit systems will allow better monitoring of who is coming onto the site but also helps to ensure that employees and contractors are not taking any equipment or materials that they should not be taking from the site.
Marking and registering plant machinery
By marking and registering your plant machinery, you will stand a much better chance of recovering it if it is stolen.
High quality CCTV system
Another option is to install a CCTV security system which features advanced technology that is able to deter thieves in a range of different ways. There are lots of options you can choose from to suit the size and layout of your site, as well as your power options.
Star FM Group specialises in supplying security systems to the construction industry, to help tackle the increasing threat of theft and vandalism. We offer a wide range of system options and features, including the flexibility of a wireless system, so cameras can easily be moved if required.
We also offer 24/7 monitored CCTV, which offers many of the benefits of having security on site but without the expense of paying salaries. Our CCTV cameras feature AI technology to detect potential threats and HD footage to help to identify thieves on your site.
With half of construction site thefts being done by employees and contractors, having high-definition cameras can help to clearly identify perpetrators and the presence of the cameras will also deter any would-be opportunist thieves.
There are also solar powered CCTV systems available for sites where there is no mains power, so contact Star FM Group and we can arrange a site visit to provide a recommendation for your security solution.
