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20 Best Equipment Theft Protection Tips for Construction Companies

Do you run a construction company and you need ideas to secure your site? If YES, here are 20 tips to protect your construction equipment from being stolen. Running a construction company especially a standard one is indeed quite demanding. This is because it takes a lot to mobilize men, machine and materials to site and you must ensure that the materials are protected from theft and vandals.

Come to think of it, no business owner will spend huge sums of money to acquire or lease heavy duty construction equipment and not do all that is required to protect them in the construction site. Research shows that one of the major sources of loss for construction companies is from construction equipment and material theft. This is why it is very necessary for construction companies to protect their construction equipment and materials from theft or damage.

So, if you run a construction company and you are looking for ways to protect your equipment from theft, then you will find these 20 best equipment theft protection tips highly useful.

20 Best Equipment Theft Protection Tips for Construction Companies

  1. Construct a Secured and Safe Store Room

One of the ways you can protect your construction equipment from theft and vandals is to construct a secured and safe store room; a place where after the days job, you can bring back your low to medium capacity construction equipment for safe keeping.

No doubt, there may be times when your site will be very far from your office cum store room hence the need to also construct mobile safe store room from empty cargo container. With that, it will be easier for you to lock up construction / building materials, secure tractors, vehicles and construction equipment and also install hidden kill switches to disable ignitions of tractors and trucks et al.

  1. Hire Well Trained Ad – Hoc Security Guards

If you run a standard construction company that is always mobilizing men, machine and materials to site, then you must ensure that you hire well-trained ad-hoc security guards. The job description of the security guards are to protect your workers, construction equipment and construction materials. This is very important especially if you are carrying out construction work in a hostile environment.

  1. Organizer Proper Security Orientation and Training for Your Field Workers

There is a popular saying that security of life and property starts with you. In essence, if you are serious about protecting your construction equipment as a construction contractor working outside your base, then you must ensure that you organize proper security orientation and training for your field workers.

The truth is that, if every staff has a sense of responsibility that the equipment they are working with is under their care, they will put some measures to ensure that the equipment and materials are protected. You can hire the services of security consultants to conduct these training for your staff members and you can even mandate one of your management staff who has a security background to do the training.

  1. Install CCTV Cameras in Strategic Positions in Your Construction Site

In most cases, construction projects usually take time and as a matter of fact, some of these construction projects can last for 6 months and more.

If you are involved in any construction project that will last for more than six months, one of the ways you can protect your construction equipment from theft is to install CCTV cameras in strategic positions all around the construction sites. The truth is that any potential thief that knows that there are CCTV security cameras there would rather not go ahead with their operation.

  1. Install Security Alarms in Strategic Positions in Your Construction Site

Similar to installing CCTV cameras is installing security alarms in strategic positions in your construction site. Please note that you can install anti – theft security alarm on your heavy duty equipment and even other equipment and materials.

Usually, security alarms start blaring when a thief or someone tries to forcefully move or take something without authorization. With that, you can be rest assured that your construction equipment will be well protected from theft whenever they are deployed to construction sites.

  1. Deploy Security Dogs to Protect Your Equipment

Another tip that you should consider if you want to protect your construction equipment is to deploy security dogs in your construction site. The truth is that, if the dogs are well – trained, you can be rest assured that they will protect your equipment. As a matter of fact, the presence of security dogs in and around the locations where your equipment and materials are kept will sure scare the hell out of potential construction equipment theft.

  1. Partner with Local Vigilantes

If you don’t have enough money to hire your own ad – hoc security guards to protect your equipment and construction materials, then one other option you can leverage on is to partner with local vigilantes within the community that you are carrying out your construction work.

Although it is going to cost you some money, but you can be rest assured that at night, they will patrol around the areas where you store up your construction equipment and construction materials.

  1. Partner with Community Heads

If perchance you are carrying out construction work in a restive community, one of the ways you can protect your construction equipment and materials is to ensure that you partner with community heads and chiefs in the community.

Trust me, community heads and chiefs have a way of talking to the youths to do their biddings. As a matter of fact, there are some communities that you cannot successfully carry out a construction work without consulting with the community heads and chiefs who are considered to be major stakeholders.

  1. Leverage on Technology – Make Use of Drones

Another practical tip that you can deploy in the bid to protect your construction equipment is to leverage on technology especially drone technology. You can actually hire the services of a drone inspection company to help you handle your security.

A drone inspection company is any company that provides inspection with the aid of drones for organizations. It is a kind of security related services that work for both private and public clients at an agreed fee. Drone inspection services company is ideal for huge construction companies with sophisticated and expensive construction equipment who are known to carry out massive construction projects that last for several months.

  1. Develop Standard Security Policy for Your Company

As a major construction company that is always engaged in construction works, you must make it a point of duty to develop standard security policy for your company. With such security policy document, you will be able to deploy the right strategy for each site that you are working on as it relates to protecting not only your construction equipment from theft, but also your workforce and your construction materials.

  1. Label and Take Inventory of your Equipment Regularly

Labeling and taking inventory of all your construction equipment on a regular basis is yet another practical tip that you should consider if indeed you want to protect your equipment from theft. The process starts by ensuring that you take inventory of every equipment that you are taking to the construction site from your yard or store room and finally when returning them back after the project.

  1. Build a Temporary Fence Around Your Construction Site

One of the tips that you should also consider if you want to protect your equipment from theft in a construction site is to build a temporary fence around the construction site. With a perimeter fence, you will be able to deprive passersby from seeing the equipment you are working with and also prevent unwanted intruders from coming close to your construction site and having access to your construction equipment.

  1. Install Security Light Around Your Construction Site

The fact that construction sites are expected to be very busy during the day time means that if at all there will be theft of construction equipment, it will likely happen at night. So, in order to prevent this from happening, make sure that you install security lights around your construction site even if it means mobilizing your power plant to your construction site. The truth is that if your construction site is properly lighted, it will discourage theft and vandalism of any kind.

  1. Carry Out Effective Screening at Your Entry and Exit Gate

Part of what you need to do if you want to prevent theft of your construction equipment is to ensure that you have proper control of every human (employees and visitors alike) and vehicle that enter or exit your construction site.

You should be able to monitor your gate or access point, and it is always advisable to provide only one access point. With that, it will be easy to monitor and control. As a matter of fact, you can install a video monitoring system to capture vehicle traffic entering and exiting the site.

  1. Relate with Local Police and Fire Departments

Another practical tip that you should consider if you are looking towards protecting your equipment from theft in your construction site is to make sure that you relate with the local police and fire departments in the community that you are carrying out construction projects.

With that, it will be easier for you or your staff to report suspicious moves around your site. As matter of fact, you can get the police department to patrol your site at odd hours to scare off potential thieves that might want to take advantage of the dead of the night to strike.

  1. Get Your Workers Involved in Securing Construction Equipment

Getting your workers involved in the protection of your construction equipment is yet another practical tip that you should consider. You should make sure you assign supervisory security responsibilities to some of your staff members, and also encourage security awareness among all workers.

You can as well encourage employees and subcontractors to also take responsibility for securing your construction equipment and every construction material on the site. They should also be encouraged to immediately report any incidents of theft or vandalism to the appropriate authority.

  1. Enter into Relationship with Management of Neighboring Properties

If you are just starting out and you don’t have the capacity to hire your own site security guards or install CCTV cameras and security alarms et al, one of the security tips that you should consider is to enter into a relationship with management of neighboring properties within the community that you are carrying out your construction work.

If you can successfully relate with management of neighboring properties, it will be easier for you to encourage them to report suspicious activities around your site and raise alarm if someone is about stealing from you.

  1. Transport Sensitive Equipment Back to Base If Possible

Transporting sensitive construction equipment back to base after every day’s work is yet another means of protecting your equipment from theft. This tip is practicable if your construction site is not far from your base and if you have the capacity to engage in back and forth transportation of the equipment.

Please note that there are some heavy duty construction equipment and tools that you cannot transport back until after the project when the equipment will be disassembled/dismembered.

  1. Visitors and Subcontractors Should Not Be Allowed to Enter Restricted Areas

Another practical tip on how to prevent the theft of your construction equipment and materials from your construction site is to ensure that visitors and subcontractors are not allowed to enter restricted areas within the site. Places like your store room and your control room should be out of bound to non – staff members.

As a matter of fact, your employees should be part of the people ensuring that the construction equipment and materials are secured and as such should not allow their visitors or subcontractors to enter restricted areas.

  1. Proper Background Check with Bias for Security Records Should Be Conducted Before Hiring Any Staff or Even Subcontractors

The fact that we are not ruling out the possibilities of staff members or subcontractors conniving with criminals to steal construction equipment means that proper screening should be conducted before hiring. As a matter of fact, no employee whether contract staff or full staff should be hired without first conducting proper security check on them. If you don’t, you might employ potential criminals or someone with criminal records.

There you have it, 20 practical tips on how to prevent theft of your construction equipment from your construction site.