The Construction Equipment Association (CEA) has reported a 50% surge in construction site crime rates since the coronavirus lockdown. The construction industry is being urged to tighten security measures to defend sites from opportunistic thieves.
With high value plant equipment present on sites, construction sites are a target for thieves. Last year, theft and vandalism cost the construction industry £400 million.
A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Building revealed that 92% of construction firms were directly affected by petty crime, with 21% stating that their construction sites were robbed on a weekly basis.
Risk-UK reports that Radius Telematics has seen an increase in the thefts of commercial vehicles and plant since the Coronavirus lockdown. With many offices, factories and construction sites abandoned, thieves appear to be taking full advantage of unattended locations.
It’s not just the cost of replacing stolen vehicles, plant and tools that construction sites must deal with either. Additional costs such as delays to construction work, hiring in new machinery, repairing any damage and replacing stolen fuel can quickly cause costs to add up, making it harder to resume work within a short timeframe.
Below is a recent example of CCTV being used as an effective security deterrent at a building site
This construction site in Northamptonshire saw its second intruder attempt in under a month. You can clearly see the intruders making a dash for it as soon as the security lights are triggered and they realise they are being monitored on CCTV. The incident was deterred thanks its CCTV System installed by Brix Secure and their remote monitoring partner, Farsight Security.
Farsight’s operators called in the keyholder and police, who arrived with a dog unit within minutes, demonstrating effective & proactive security deterrence in action, preventing theft or damage on this construction site once again.
“As specialists in providing security systems within the construction sector, we know how effective CCTV can be in detecting and preventing incidents at these sites – before they can progress into loss and criminal damage. Our Oculi CCTV system installations and remote monitoring partnership with Farsight Security allows us to do just that.” Jason Tear, Director at Brix Secure.
Ensuring construction site security is optimised is crucial. To best reduce the risk of criminal activity on-site, construction sites need to turn themselves into less vulnerable targets for potential thieves and vandals. To achieve this, a comprehensive security solution includes aspects of security that:
– Deter individuals
– Detect activity
– Delay actions
– Provide an immediate response
Guide to construction site security
For advice on protecting a construction site we have published a comprehensive guide to construction site security.
Other examples of incidents Farsight have responded to at construction sites
Farsight has responded to many such incidents happening within the construction sector during these challenging times, like these:
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