With surveillance now able to provide site monitoring 24 hrs a day, 365 days of the year, CCTV is an obvious solution to any construction site security plan. Whether your site is based in a city centre or is part of a rural development, your security plan should in either circumstance, include the installation of CCTV.
As construction sites are often easy targets for unauthorised activity, which normally occur out of working hours, sites are extremely vulnerable to break-ins, theft, vandalism and fly tipping. With thefts from construction sites totalling millions of pounds each year, it is imperative to effectively secure your construction site with CCTV.
Unauthorised individuals accessing the site can often cause vandalism which brings with it an added element of risk for site employees. This risk arises when the safety of the site is unwittingly compromised by the actions of the intruders. With this in mind, it is vitally important that you effectively secure your construction site with CCTV. This not only reduces the amount of financial loss due to theft but will also assist in the overall safety management of the site by acting as a second pair of monitoring eyes for the site manager.
However, when considering how to effectively secure your construction site CCTV you need to consider how the CCTV will link with your overall security assessment. An assessment should always be carried out to ensure your full security needs are considered to ensure you’re given the most comprehensive cover to suit your budget. However, don’t be tempted to minimise your security plan to save money as the financial costs of stolen materials and lost time on projects will be much greater than the cost of installing a worthy security system.
If budget is a real issue, then discuss this with your supplier and at very least, install the minimum number of cameras you need to effectively cover your site. These can easily be topped up with the installation of unconnected dummy cameras to act as a visible deterrent.
You should also be looking at protecting your site with various other methods so these can work hand in hand with CCTV and play a greater role in reducing the amount of both theft and vandalism, for example: ensuring access is restricted to your site by erecting border fences along the whole perimeter.
So, how to effectively secure your construction site with CCTV?
Firstly, have a reputable security firm carry out a site assessment to pin point how many cameras you will require (actual or dummy) and where your cameras need to be positioned in order to get maximum visual site coverage.
Check customer reviews to gain valuable feedback to assist in your decision and trust word of mouth recommendations from industry colleagues.
Choose what type of cameras you will need. These can be either fixed or rotational and can also include wide angle lenses and face recognition. It is also worth considering the option of investing the extra cost for high resolution images as these will help identify faces during playback should the need arise.
Finally ensure you have erected CCTV signage around your site. This is actually a legal requirement and must not be overlooked. Even trespassers need to be legally advised there is CCTV in operation.
