After being aware of the main vulnerabilities that some face in a Construction Site, the next step is the Prevention and Benefits of Construction Site Security. What's more: learn how to overcome some difficulties some may face.
In our recent post, we discussed the main Vulnerabilities that usually the Construction Sites are exposed to, and why they are so targeted by thieves.
Being aware of your site's Vulnerabilities is the best way to start preventing and avoiding any security incidents.
The next step is to take some important and simple measures to prevent any security incident and what are all the benefits of doing so.
How to Prevent and Protect
There are a few simple measures that can fairly increase the security in a Construction Site, such as:
KNOW YOUR VULNERABILITIES
Review your Site Security looking for all possible vulnerabilities. Ideally, you should rely on a Security Expert for performing a security check and generating a report.
ACT SOON
Create a Security Plan to mitigate and address all the risks pointed in the security report.
EDUCATE
Train and control your staff, contractors and suppliers: security and Health & Safety procedures must be known and followed by everyone. Encourage security awareness and breach or suspicious behaviours’ report among all workers and visitors.
Also, use all breaches in Health & Safety and Security Procedures as content for training and prevention measures.
SECURE AND PROTECT THE SITE
Establish all the security procedures and also invest in the right security equipment during daytime (for security and Health & Safety purposes) and also after hours: fencing, barriers, light, storage places, lockers, security cameras, alarm system, access control system etc.
CONTROL THE ACCESS
It is really important to control and manage all access to the Construction Site. Focus on all entry points (especially the ones that are located on main roads or that can make things easier for the thieves to come in and out of your site) and also the exit ones.
Different people must have different permissions and all of them must be checked and verified before gaining access (e.g. if they are wearing the safety equipment, if the insurance is up to date if they are accessing the site during the correct date and time etc.).
Manage your staff and contractors: know how long they have been on the site and report it with accuracy.
Additional security can be obtained with biometric authentication (such as fingerprint terminals).
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
It is mandatory to control all property onsite (e.g. equipment and material), tracking them regularly. It might require some sort of labeling and identification and also that they are kept in a safe, monitored and controlled area, as well as files or systems to store and control all data.
LIGHT UP
It is very important that the site is well lit to effectively reduce the risk of theft and vandalism.
MONITOR 24x7
Consider hiring a monitoring company to respond to any incident, check it (and filter false alarm from real risk) and act as the previously established response plan.
Having a monitoring company that do the checks as soon as they are detected and can separate the false from the potentially dangerous situation which also makes the security patrol and/or the police response to comes faster.
Some security equipment such as CCTV Cameras and Alarm Systemsalso allow you to monitor it via Mobile Apps.
REACT SOONER AND EFFICIENTLY
Create and train your staff for Security and Health & Safety response in order to know how to act in most of the cases.
It is also important to create a response system where you can react faster in case of an intruder or robber attempt detection – the sooner you act, the higher are the chances that you detain the thefts of escaping (and having some barriers to extend their time for coming in and going out definitely help).
The same must be established in case of an accident as time is of the essence to save a life.
Benefits of Construction Site’s Security
The benefits are many and their impact on the construction site can be tremendous. Also, the more steps you take into prevention at your construction site, the more likely is the risk mitigation:
- Control access and know where each of your employees and contractors is
- Saves you time (you don’t waste time in recovering or replacing equipment and material or delaying work because of that)
- Avoid equipment and tools theft and unwanted behaviour
- Increase Health & Safety and efficiency and prevent incidents
- Monitor one or many construction sites any time and from anywhere using remote access
- Easy to install (wireless solutions)
- Prevent money, equipment and material loss
Plus: CCTV Cameras also allows capturing time-lapse videos on the construction site for marketing and report purposes.
Overcoming some Difficulties
Most of the people think because of the size or location of the construction site it is impossible or too expensive to invest in security for a construction site, but there are some solutions that make it not only feasible and cost-effective like:
From small construction sites to extensive areas, short or long term, there are different solutions and equipment that can be combined to fit your specific needs and, at the same time, be very efficient and cost-effective.
For more details and Security Solutions for Construction Site, talk to IQ Security Consultants or visit our website.
