One of the most important considerations that contractors will have to bear in mind when running construction sites is, of course, security.
Because of the nature of the business and the fact that there’s always a significant amount of valuable materials like copper and metal, equipment and machinery in situ, they’ll always represent an attractive and lucrative option for thieves. The fact that these sites are also incredibly visible and unable to blend in means they’ll always be a top target for criminals.
As such, it’s vital that those in charge make sure they do all they can to make their sites less vulnerable, protecting their assets, ensuring the health and safety of their employees and maintaining productivity standards so that jobs come in on time.
Before investing in any form of security, however, it’s essential to carry out a risk assessment of the entire site, taking into account location, layout, neighbouring properties and any security incidents that have taken place in the past.
Typical threats will vary depending on the specific site in question, but common issues that construction sites come up against include plant and fuel theft, materials theft, arson, vandalism, perimeter breaches, attacks on staff, protestors and terrorism-related activity.
Other hazards to take into account when conducting your risk assessment include natural disasters like flooding, storm damage, earthquakes and landslides, as the mitigation steps you take may well prove useful for tackling both threats and hazards alike.
There are various strategies you can employ to boost site security depending on what your risk assessment reveals, everything from access restrictions and surveillance to site asset protection, safety provisions and even liaisons with local authorities and the police.
One of the best options for construction site security, however, are access control systems, which allow you to connect all your entry points to smart devices so that worker credentials can be verified in real time, stopping any unauthorised personnel from gaining entry to the site.
Security alarms are, of course, a must and these serve as a particularly good deterrent, with motion sensors activating alarms and sirens when triggered, alerting the authorities and the site managers and supervisors that there are intruders on site.
You could also consider silent alarms rather than noise-emitting ones to further enhance security and maximise the chances of the intruders being apprehended.
Another option is to have a physical onsite security presence in the form of guards. This can give you the peace of mind that someone will be there to react immediately if something happens, stopping criminals in their tracks – but note that using guards without other measures in place can have its drawbacks.
Guards will only be able to focus their attention in one place and they’re unable to monitor the entire site, so make sure that you have other systems in place to maximise their effectiveness.
Here at Black Diamond Security, we operate a 24/7 monitoring service via our national control centre, based in Doncaster, where we manage our manned guarding, alarm response and CCTV monitoring, as well as providing keyholding and liaising with security partners to manage fire and intruder alarms.
If you’d like any further help or advice relating to site security and which security measures would be most appropriate for you, get in touch with the team today.
