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6 Steps to Prevent Construction Site Theft

StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | 6 Steps to Prevent Construction Site Theft

In the construction industry, projects may take up to months or even years to complete. It is common to leave work equipment and tools at the site. While the areas are left unsupervised in the evening after everyone leaves, construction and building materials can be stolen from the sites by anyone, more so heavy equipment. Construction site theft is a significant problem for companies in the industry. Statistics reports show that nearly $1 billion is lost annually through construction site theft with less than 20% of the stolen equipment recovered. With the broad range of risks, investing in a robust site security strategy is essential to combat theft and help you mitigate a potential financial loss. Below are ways your business or company can keep your critical equipment safe.

Install Strong Walls and Fencing

Putting up a fence creates additional security around your construction site keeping your equipment safe. Fencing may not keep everyone at bay, but having one entry point may ensure that only authorized personnel can enter the site.

Lock Away Tools and Materials

Ensure all tools and materials are securely locked in safe storage space, especially for small hand tools. Leaving your items sitting around anywhere is quite tempting, especially if you have to use them again the following morning but do not fall into that temptation. Store your equipment nicely after use to lower the chances of them missing.

Invest in Commercial Security Systems

Camera and video-based surveillance systems that provide a visual of the construction site are excellent solutions. The system should be specially designed for your site to allow constant monitoring for accidents, vandalism, or theft. Ensure your video surveillance is supplemented with audio analytics and motion detectors to alert virtual or on-site security personnel of potential intrusions.

As you install your security cameras, ensure they are positioned in a way that gives you a clear view of your entire site. In addition to the surveillance system, an intense alarm is vital in creating secure construction sites and preventing theft. Modern alarms are mobile and wireless, making them easy to install. Alerts can be sent to your smartphone by the providers. Alternatively, the providers can assess the nature of the breach and can alert the authorities or you. Hiring a trained security guard to keep an eye on your site makes it more secure.

Put up Signs

Simple signs like ‘’No Trespassing’’ OR ‘’No Unauthorized Personnel’’ can prevent unauthorized people from entering your premises or site. Ensure the signs are visible during the daytime and nighttime. For easier visibility of the signs indicators at night, ensure adequate lighting around them and generally around the site.

Keep a Record of All Purchases

For every piece of equipment used on the site, ensure you have a detailed record, including the serial numbers. Should there be a theft, the documents make it easier for you to file a report with the police and law enforcement to recover your items. Additionally, it makes it harder for someone to resell your equipment.

Track Your Tools

Label your equipment correctly and put a tracking device, especially the costly machinery and tools. QR codes are a practical and straightforward option, but you can also use a microchip tracking system that is a little sophisticated. Both features allow you to manage your tools on a smartphone. The tracking system is crucial if you have to claim insurance in case of burglary.

Final remarks

No construction site is entirely immune to burglary and theft. Several ways can help you prevent theft at your site, and the above are just some of them. Go ahead and implement them and make sure theft prevention at your construction site is effective.

3 Common Ways Your Construction Business Can Lose Money

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Construction Business|3 Common Ways Your Construction Business Can Lose MoneyStarting a construction business is one of the oldest business ideas in the book. When done correctly, it can lead to lots of profits, helping you lay the foundations of a construction empire. Unfortunately, lots of small businesses in this sector struggle to generate profits year in year out. They keep losing money, and on further reflection, it’s easy to identify why this is the case.

If you currently own and operate a small construction company, here are three common ways you could be losing money right this second:

Poor supplier relationships

Construction businesses rely on suppliers to gain access to all the different raw materials and equipment needed to run the company. You can’t perform construction work without all of these things and there are various building company suppliers out there that provide them for you.

The problem is that you are choosing bad suppliers for your business, meaning you’re paying too much money for the goods. As a result, this whittles away at your bottom line, making it harder for you to make a profit. The solution? Find better suppliers at more affordable rates, lowering the cost of overheads.

On-site crime

That’s right, on-site crime is a genuine issue that affects construction companies and can mean you lose money. It can happen through employees or members of the general public stealing things from your site. What tends to happen is someone outside your business sneaks onto a construction site when you pack up for the day, looking to take things for free. This can include some of the supplies we were just talking about, meaning you have to spend more money replacing them.

This is actually a bigger problem than you think, but it can easily be addressed by improving the security on your site. Start by installing mobile construction site cameras to deter both employees and members of the public from stealing anything. Something simple like this can keep your supplies at their standard levels, saving money.

Construction site accidents

Finally, a lot of small companies lose money due to construction site accidents. An employee gets injured on the job, leading to disruptions. This has a two-fold effect on your financial situation as a business. Firstly, you need to cough up money for any medical bills your employee encounters, seeing as they were injured on the job and therefore you’re technically liable. If you don’t, they can sue you for more money anyway.

Secondly, it can delay your operations, meaning you might have to discount your service for not completing it on time. Or, you could get bad reviews from clients, making it harder to find more work and to make more money. As such, improving construction site safety needs to be a top priority to prevent your business from losing a lot of money.

As you can see, construction businesses can lose money in ways that you may never have thought about. If you find that your business struggles to make a profit, it could be down to one or all of these three issues.