The UK construction site industry experiences £800 million in losses each year as a result of common crimes taking place. This has worsened during the pandemic, with a sharp rise in plant and tool thefts occurring during the first two weeks of the initial 2020 lockdown. The Construction Equipment Association puts this down to personnel including site security guards having to leave works abandoned due to social distancing measures.

Throughout the remainder of the pandemic, and looking towards the future of your construction site, your best defence is to be aware of the most common security breaches that take place. From here, you can create an effective construction site security plan to safeguard your site and its assets.

Access Points

Criminals wandering through the main access point of a construction site is a reality in many unsecured venues. If criminals are able to take the easy route into your site, whilst pulling a vehicle up near the main entrance, then they will. The less breaking-in they need to do, the better, as walking in through an access point is far less likely to raise any suspicion than being caught in the act of trying to climb a security fence for example.

When it comes to locking down your access points, it is beneficial to have only a few entrances and exits to reduce the amount of security needed, although this may be challenging during the pandemic. You should ensure that all access points are fully secured and monitored either by wireless surveillance cameras, or by the presence of a physical guard who can authorise personnel to proceed into the site.

Perimeter

For sites where gaining entrance through an official entrance isn’t possible, intruders will attempt to break in by getting past a security barrier. It may not always be criminals who try this, but youths too who use construction sites as a source of dangerous entertainment. Concrete blocks and strong barrier fencing can prevent criminals from accessing a site and are also useful within the boundary of the works as a way to section off authorised and unauthorised areas. Accompanying signage and audio sirens can be attached to the perimeter of your site, as a visual warning to anyone who is considering trespassing.

Scaffolding And Assets

Understanding what motivates criminals or intruders to target your site in the first place can be the key to choosing the best security methods. Plant theft, loss of construction vehicles and scaffold are all sources of value to intruders. Security breaches can occur, even by internal site workers when construction equipment is left unsecured either during or at the end of the working day. Ensuring that equipment is locked away into a secured zone is a must, with either surveillance or manned patrols to monitor the security of such storage areas.

Scaffolding can also be secured by attaching wireless scaffold alarms to the structure, ensuring that any attempt to tamper with the material will result in an alarm being raised.

COVID-19 Protection On-Site

The scope of security has changed significantly as construction companies need to go way beyond protecting the assets of the site itself and focus on the health and safety of workers too. Keeping workers socially distanced from each other to prevent the potential spread of the virus is challenging. Whilst there are superior solutions available such as the Thermoscreen which detects accurate temperature readings on arrival to the site, there are other measures that should be implemented during the course of the working day. From wearing PPE, to having access to hand sanitiser stations across the entire site, there are multiple ways to reduce the risk of infection. Frequent breaches were initially reported when construction sites reopened following the first lockdown. These included non-compliances such as insufficient cleaning regimes and inadequate segregation in crowded canteens being reported.

Although the Building Safety Group reported a 41% decrease in such breaches, COVID-19 security will be an ongoing issue for construction firms throughout the remainder of 2021.

Sicuro provides a range of advanced security solutions to protect single or multi-site construction works. Our packages are entirely bespoke based on the individual needs of your firm. Contact Sicuro today to book your FREE consultation.