5 Essential Security Measures to Implement on your Construction Site

Con­struc­tion sites require extra secu­ri­ty, espe­cial­ly since the vehi­cles, build­ing mate­ri­als, tools and equip­ment that are need­ed to be on site dai­ly may be a valu­able tar­get for some. Any inci­dent of theft may neg­a­tive­ly affect a project’s prof­its. List­ed below are five things that can be imple­ment­ed to increase project secu­ri­ty.

1.    Set up appropriate site lighting

Arti­fi­cial light­ing on con­struc­tion sites is nec­es­sary, espe­cial­ly at night and dur­ing the win­ter sea­son. It is essen­tial that project man­agers ensure that the work site is well-lit at all times, regard­less of whether there is work or not. This deters any thief or tres­pass­er, as the risk that they will be seen and exposed increas­es. Motion detec­tion lights are espe­cial­ly use­ful and can have a more star­tling impact on thieves as they get too close.

Suf­fi­cient job site light­ing is also nec­es­sary for the safe­ty of the work­ers and employ­ees. Prop­er light­ing allows work­ers to quick­ly spot and avoid haz­ards. Low lev­els of light­ing are often asso­ci­at­ed with the inci­dence of more acci­dents on con­struc­tion sites.   

2.    Install fences and locks

Installing fences and locks around the con­struc­tion site may seem like a basic thing to do; how­ev­er, not all project man­agers use this secu­ri­ty mea­sure. At the very least, fences keep out intrud­ers and help keep the project site safe from theft or van­dal­ism. Ide­al­ly, a project man­ag­er should install fences and locks around unat­tend­ed valu­able tools and equip­ment on site for an added lay­er of secu­ri­ty.

An elec­tron­ic lock sys­tem is also a good idea for added pro­tec­tion for the con­struc­tion site’s office facil­i­ty. Elec­tron­ic lock devices may be con­nect­ed to access con­trol sys­tems where trans­ac­tions and activ­i­ty are record­ed. Only autho­rized indi­vid­u­als can have access to the project’s office where expen­sive equip­ment such as lap­tops may be stored. Installing elec­tron­ic locks can also ensure that all sen­si­tive and con­fi­den­tial data on site is safe.   

3.    Label  tools and equipment

Project man­agers should track and iden­ti­fy their inven­to­ry of tools and equip­ment. All the project’s equip­ment should be labelled with cus­tom mark­ers for eas­i­er track­ing. Every day, hun­dreds of tools and pieces of equip­ment are used on con­struc­tion sites, which makes man­ag­ing them a dif­fi­cult process, espe­cial­ly if they are moved from one job site to anoth­er.

Some con­struc­tion com­pa­nies find it eas­i­er to use bar­code labels on all their equip­ment. This can be done to enhance work­ers’ account­abil­i­ty, as the tools can be scanned by a super­vi­sor before being used by a cer­tain employ­ee. This enables project man­agers to know which employ­ee is using what tools and ensure every­thing is returned prop­er­ly.

4.    Install security cameras and alarm systems

Secu­ri­ty cam­eras offer many ben­e­fits and are cru­cial on the con­struc­tion site. First, with secu­ri­ty cam­eras installed, work­ers are dis­cour­aged from tak­ing any tools or equip­ment home or for per­son­al use. Sec­ond, secu­ri­ty cam­eras act as a deter­rent to thieves, as they know that they might get caught in action.

More­over, some project man­agers use secu­ri­ty cam­eras to mon­i­tor the real-time progress of their projects. They can check in on work­ers and sub­con­trac­tors, iden­ti­fy issues, and ensure that secu­ri­ty pro­ce­dures are being fol­lowed. Installing sur­veil­lance cam­eras in the right places helps keep project man­agers informed at all times.

There are also alarm sys­tems that are reli­able in secur­ing the project site. There are many alarm sys­tems to choose from, so it is impor­tant for project man­agers to thor­ough­ly con­sid­er their options before mak­ing a deci­sion. Alarm sys­tems with motion sen­sors that set off loud sirens or flash­ing lights are effec­tive in scar­ing off thieves or intrud­ers.

5.    Hire Security Guards

Hir­ing a skilled secu­ri­ty guard can go hand in hand with the oth­er secu­ri­ty mea­sures out­lined. Secu­ri­ty guards pay atten­tion to all the vis­i­tors and vehi­cles com­ing into the project site and report any sus­pi­cious activ­i­ty imme­di­ate­ly. This is espe­cial­ly impor­tant for large project sites with mul­ti­ple entry points and heavy day­time traf­fic. Project secu­ri­ty guards can also help watch over the project’s heavy equip­ment and oth­er impor­tant assets. 

Conclusion

There are many chal­lenges that project man­agers face, and keep­ing their project sites secure is one of them. Just like a com­pa­ny would pro­tect its rev­enue by ensur­ing all legal safe­guards against non-pay­ment lie pre-lien notices are secured, secu­ri­ty is para­mount on the job­site. Not only does theft eat from a project’s prof­its, it may also slow the project down. It is impor­tant to imple­ment appro­pri­ate secu­ri­ty mea­sures such as perime­ter fences, sur­veil­lance cam­eras and alarm sys­tems, and site light­ing to deter thieves and pro­tect the project’s assets.