It’s normal for most people to be wary of the security of their homes and valuables when they’re away, which is why they take a lot of measures to ensure that their properties are secure.
A construction site is full of valuable properties, from expensive heavy-duty vehicles with costly materials.
Without proper security, a construction site is a goldmine from a thief’s perspective. The number of plant theft claims is on the rise, millions of dollars worth of equipment is being stolen every year.
Opportunistic and amateur theft does happen, just like with homes with no or low security, but the bulk of construction site theft is done by professional thieves who usually make a career out of it since the stolen equipment is valuable yet not easy to transport and sell.
Construction managers are aware that it’s hard to stash your valuables in a place not built yet, not to mention that your valuables in this case are heavy machinery and materials.
It’s not just the lost equipment that they’re worried about, they also worry about the delay it causes and the repercussion that could affect the workers as well.
The longer the duration of the job is dragged out by theft, the costlier it will be to finish it, knowing that only a small percentage of construction sites stolen equipment is returned by the police.
We’ll be giving you a few tips to help you create a checklist to minimize the possibility of theft and secure your construction site.
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6 Ways to Secure Your Construction Site
Let there be Light
This may sound intuitive, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of construction sites with worse lighting than a New York alley in a Scorsese film.
Lighting is considered a very strategic deterrent as it’s the least expensive option while being tremendously efficient, depending on the size of the site.
No thief feels like it’s a good idea to barge in a stadium-lit construction site and steal extremely obvious and big equipment.
When light is used efficiently it should take the security value up a notch; well-lit means no place to hide in the dark which should raise the chance of discovery of intruders.
You can use motion-activated lighting systems just to see the look on the thief’s face when he realizes he came to the wrong place.
Surveillance and Alarm
Your average criminal would probably avoid a well-lit place when he’s considering a major theft.
If the thief is able to muster the courage to risk and plan around your lights, you’ll be naked without cameras and alarms.
A CCTV constantly looking around 24/7 is a very important tool in any security strategy.
The construction site’s lights are going to increase the probability of the police identifying the criminal which means that it makes it easier to catch the thief.
The cameras combined with the lights should be at the core of your construction site security strategy plan.
It’s important that you do thorough research in order to find the best construction site security service out there because once you do, you’ll find that It’s considered easy and cost-effective to install the right cameras and alarms.
Alarms come in two different types; a loud alarm, which acts as a device that produces a very loud noise once activated; silent alarm, your best chance to catch the criminals in the act because a silent alarm only notifies the police without the thief knowing.
Both loud and silent alarms are good candidates for your security setup.
Guards
There are two types of guards that you can assign to protect your construction site, virtual and physical guards.
Virtual guards can monitor the cameras and see if any suspicious acts are being done, then contact the police.
The best thing is that the criminal doesn’t know he’s been spotted and that the police should be on its way.
Physical guards are a different story, they are usually employed for more valuable equipment and materials.
A physical guard’s fee is higher because there is a risk on him as he/she will try to intercept a criminal before calling the police.
Security guards may not have a permit to carry a gun, but they may have some other form of weapon that can do the job.
Storage
Even with all the above, there is still a risk of a robbery going down by organized criminals.
Similar to the concept of locking valuables in a vault in banks or even your home, you can use a shipping container as a safe.
These containers are known for their toughness and strength; it’s very hard to get into one because it’s extremely well-built and will take way too much time if someone tries to.
The thief will be risking discovery for a gamble on a shipping container that they don’t know for sure what’s inside.
Tracking Equipment
This is almost a fail-proof way to make sure your equipment always finds their way back to you if stolen.
When you install GPS trackers on your vehicles and valuable materials, you’ll have the ability to view their location at any time of the day.
Simply giving the GPS report to the police can easily get you back your stolen equipment in a few days.
You can also use trackers for smaller equipment or valuables in case they’re misplaced by workers and avoid creating a delay by issuing a search for it.
Fencing
Putting up a fence around the construction site can help you a great deal with the security.
A normal fence can deter a lot of intruders from trying to barge in because it will be hard to transport anything with a fence around.
Scaling the fence isn’t a practical way either, it takes a lot of time and attracts attention.
Electric fences can make a very good defense; they’re impossible to scale since simply getting in contact with it results in an electric shock.
If the electric fence is messed with by someone cutting the wires, it automatically sends a silent alarm to the right people.
A construction site manager’s job is not something to envy, keeping an eye on the site while it’s operating and also while it’s not.
Don’t ask yourself what are the odds of someone stealing a huge dozer, but how you can stop him from doing it in the first place or catch them dead in their tracks.
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source: https://dailyhomeinsider.com
