10 top construction site security tips10 top construction site security tips
Construction site security is absolutely vital to the success of your project, protecting you from vandalism, theft, on-site accidents, and much more besides.
Any unauthorised personnel on your site is a risk, no matter if they are thieves, squatters, or kids messing about and it is essential that you have full control over who is able to gain access at any one time.
As a construction site manager or contractor, you have a legal obligation to keep your construction site secure and here are 10 tips to help you do just that.
1) Provide badges or other visible identification to authorised personnel
On a busy construction site it can be difficult to spot unauthorised individuals who have accessed your site without permission. Badges or similar make it easy to spot those who are meant to be on site from afar.
2) Install CCTV
CCTV is one of the most effective ways to protect a construction site, assisting you security team in a whole raft of different ways. Visible CCTV towers will deter criminals from targeting your site in the first place and catch them in the act if they do. It will also allow your security staff to spot them in real time and intercept them.
If an incident does occur, whether a crime or workplace accident, construction site CCTV footage will act as key evidence to determine exactly what happened and can be used in court cases or insurance claims.
3) Install fencing
Fencing of at least 2m in height should be installed around the entire perimeter of your site. If intruders can’t get in, they can’t do any harm after all. Pay particular attention to any areas with uneven ground and have your security guards check the perimeter regularly.
4) Employ security guards
SIA licensed security guards are a key asset for any major construction site. They will check the identification of visitors, man entrances, monitor CCTV, deal with intruders, act as a highly effective visual deterrent, and much more besides.
5) Ensure the whole site is well lit
Darkness is the intruders best friend and criminals are much more likely to target you if they believe they can get in and out unseen. Ensure the entire site is full lit at all times 24 hours a day. If this is not possible due to the local of the site, in a residential area for example, install motion detection lights that will activate if human activity is detected.
Store away valuable tools
Construction site are unique in that valuable equipment and materials must be left on site at all times throughout a project. This doesn’t mean you have to wave it under the nose of a potential thief however. Store as much equipment as you can away in a locked container when not in use and make sure that the keys are never left in any unattended vehicles on site.
6) Educate staff
The best health and safety policy in the world means little if your staff are not aware of it. Provide your staff with all the key information they need on best practice in terms of both safety and security and consider conducting training session to reinforce the information. This will help to keep your site, and most importantly your staff, as safe as possible.
7) Escort Visitors
No visitor to your site should be allowed to wonder around unattended wherever they like. Have a trusted member of staff or preferably a security officer escort visitors to the area of the site they need to go to make sure they are safe.
8) Remove ladders not in use
It may sound simple but the last thing you want to do is provide trespassers with the means to access your site or climb onto scaffolding by leaving a ladder lying around. Make sure to remove all access equipment when it is not in used and store it safety away in a locked container.
9) Check the weather forecast
Perhaps not the security tip you were expecting but adverse weather, especially high winds pose a real threat to the safety of construction sites. Make sure that your fencing is secure and will not easily be blown over in a storm, and that a full check of the site is completed before work restarts to identify any health and safety threats that have developed as a result of the weather.
10) Conduct regular quality checks
Putting all these construction site security measures in place is all good and well, but means little if they are not operational or fail at the crucial moment. Have a professional security company conduct regular maintenance checks on CCTV, access control technologies, alarm systems and more, and ensure that all key areas such as the perimeter and entry points are regularly checked as part of your security guard’s mobile patrol route.