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A 2019 study found that contractors lose an estimated $1 BILLION each year. On average, each incident was a loss of $6,000. The lure of copper, lumber, and tools often proves to be too much for some people to resist. At night, under the cover of shadows and darkness construction sites create a tempting target for vandalism. Unauthorized people crawling around the site are also a liability concern. These risks can all be mitigated with construction site security.
Securing construction sites is essential to preventing theft and vandalism, minimizing liability risks, and ensuring public safety. It will also keep your project on time and on budget. Sometimes, though, it takes time to figure out where to start. To help you get started, here are 6 steps to effective construction site security.
The 6 Steps
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- Develop a security plan
A security plan is essential no matter if your construction sitee security budget is large or small. Thinking through the potential risks and weak points of your site with your staff will lead to strategies to address them. This will determine where you need to allocate your resources to deter potential criminals.
You can also bring in a professional security service to review your site with you and create a security plan. With a security partner onboard, you will have access to a wider range of experiences, tactics, and solutions. Look for someone who has worked with many construction companies over the years.
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- Create a perimeter with fencing
The most basic strategy to secure a construction site is fencing coupled with good locks. This combination discourages thieves from targeting your site. Criminals want to get in and out quickly without making too much noise or drawing attention. Simple chain-link fences and locked gates make your site a more difficult target.
Another step involves employing fence coverings. These prevent people from seeing what is on your site and where the good stuff is located. Criminals won’t get a good idea of the value and location of the things that interest them and will try to find easier places to get into instead.
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- Turn up the lights
Potential thieves and vandals hate effective lighting. It makes their activities more likely to be detected, observed and reported. Keep the sharp shadows to a minimum and use motion sensors strategically. This will create an environment the criminal element will want to avoid. Lights also improve the effectiveness of any nearby surveillance systems.
Most construction sites are dark and shadowy places at night. Transforming yours into a brightly lit area greatly increases the chances that potential criminals will see your site as high risk. They will then select a different site that provides more cover and secrecy.
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- Trust but verify with background checks.
As hard as it may be to hear it, not all threats to construction sites come from the outside. The demand for labor is pressuring companies to hire quickly. This can mean that examining a candidate’s past gets ignored. Working on-site provides potential criminals the time they need to discover holes in your security. They will also learn the best times and places to strike.
Performing background checks is a mitigation strategy. It’s not a guarantee that untrustworthy people won’t make it into your company. It will make access more challenging. Even when finding enough people to work is difficult, it’s still better to weed out potential criminals.
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- Install cameras for continuous coverage
A few visible cameras will serve as a deterrent. However, they are a tool for identifying someone who has gained access to the construction site. Combined with good lighting, a high-resolution camera system will allow you to quickly alert the authorities. You will be able to provide them with images to identify the criminals. A determined, or particularly dumb, criminal may select your construction site no matter what you do. Getting your property back while removing a criminal from the street is satisfying, too.
Whether you choose a wired or wireless camera system it should be portable so you can move it to a different site once the current project is completed. Camera layout can be configured so that a few cameras cover a wide area while individual ones monitor smaller spaces. Motion detection can be coupled with lighting, too, to create a startling environment for anyone who trips the sensor. Cameras, combined with lighting, provide a whole host of security options.
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- Hire security professionals
Human security on a construction site is the largest deterrent to theft and vandalism. Well-trained guards know what to look for and are able to keep an eye on weak points in your perimeter. The security service you hire should also be able to develop a detailed security plan with you. This will catch vulnerabilities you may have not noticed.
Sometimes, potential criminals are highly motivated. No matter how high the fence or how bright the lights, they are going to take a shot at your site. On-site security personnel can respond in real time and from close proximity. On large sites, mobile patrols can speed up response times as well.
Keeping it Secure
Finding your things stolen or damaged on the job site is more than a hassle, it hits your bottom line. Paying your employees to redo work they already did and construction delays while waiting for supplies and tools have gone missing is costly. And you still have the costs to get everything replaced.
Theft and vandalism happen. Following these 6 tips will tighten your construction site security., and encourage potential criminals to go check out someone else’s property.
At KT Protection Services, our leadership has over 60 years of combined experience securing construction sites. Working together, we can devise a security plan that fits your needs and your budget. Our security professionals have undergone background checks and our own custom training. Contact us today to learn what we can do together.
