As a construction site manager or a large-scale contractor, you want to impress your clients by going above and beyond. That means completing the project on time, making sure you prevent as many accidents as possible during construction and keeping everyone (and everything) safe in the process.
You already know the traditional way to do this: hard hats, employee training, onsite managers, but what about on a larger scale?
Worksite or construction security is often overlooked. We’re walking you through the most common construction mistakes for safety, efficiency, and more.
What is Worksite and Construction Security?
Worksite security is a dynamic thing. It refers to the health and safety of your employees, but also to the protection of the building/supplies itself.
When you’re working with high-cost materials like copper piping, theft is a very real possibility. What if someone came onto the worksite while no one was there and stole them?
If you’re like most sites, you won’t have a security system to build a criminal case off of. Or maybe you’ll have a security system, but it’s not set up well enough to get identifying details in a theft.
Whether your worksite experiences injury or theft, it’s going to slow your progress and change your client’s opinion of you. Don’t let this happen – avoid construction mistakes wherever possible.
Mistake 1: Not Having Secured Entrances (Injury)
What’s the worst thing you can imagine happening on your worksite? An employee injury? That would be awful – but at least you know your employees have benefits.
No – we’re talking about passersby wondering onto the worksite and getting injured. Not only does an innocent person get hurt, but now you have a PR nightmare on your hands (along with the costs of their injury).
While it sounds uncommon, this happens more than you think. The cause? Not having secured entrances to your site and not following simple security protocol.
That person wouldn’t have been able to wander onto the property if you need a badge at every entrance.
It also wouldn’t have happened (hopefully) if you had video worksite surveillance, but more on that later.
Not Having Secured Entrances (Theft)
If something goes missing on a secured worksite, the manager can go back through the security log and see who was on the site when.
Without a secure entrance system, it could have been anyone on the site or anyone on the street who committed the theft.
A smaller pool of suspects will make the investigation go quicker and give you a better chance of recovering your products. This will help you stay on budget and might even allow you to keep the client uninvolved.
Mistake 2: Not Having a Video Security System
Let’s cut to the chase here, most construction sites don’t think about video surveillance as a need. If they do think about it, they’ll throw up a few cameras on top of poles and call it a day.
Unless there’s an incident, almost no one ever looks at the footage, and it’s left unattended.
There are (more than) a few problems with this setup.
First, putting a low-quality security camera 20 feet in the air is not going to help you identify faces or any other details if need be. What’s the point of having a security system if you can’t identify any suspects or victims?
Second, most employees know where these cameras are and will do their best to avoid them. Only have a few onsite allows thieves and deviants to work around them, to get away with their crimes.
Finally, if you’re not using these security systems efficiently, they’re a waste of money in the first place.
So – what’s the right way to use video surveillance on a job site? Read below.
Efficient Jobsite Video Surveillance
If you want to keep your job site safe, you need to invest in a video surveillance system that you understand how to use and that avoids the pitfalls above.
The best way to do that is to have enough security cameras, hire someone to keep an eye on them, and install them in strategic locations around the site.
How Many Security Cameras Do You Need?
Having too many cameras on a site is just as inefficient as not having enough. You don’t want there to be significant blind spots on your surveillance, but it’s silly to pay for cameras that overlap the same area.
The number of cameras you use on your site will depend on the size of the site and the number of entrances.
You should at least have a video camera at every entrance – no matter what, especially if you don’t have another entrance security system.
Who Will Watch the Cameras?
If you’re like most construction companies, you need all the manpower you have on the site, getting the work done. You don’t necessarily have the personnel to sit and watch security monitors all day.
Plus – you’d have to set up an area for them to watch, buy the monitors, and pay someone to set everything up.
It makes more sense to invest in a monitored security system that’s watched remotely by professionals that know what to look for. Yes – that’s an option, and you can learn more about what our company does here.
Proper Jobsite and Construction Security
To avoid common security and injury-related construction mistakes, you need an efficient and well-monitored video surveillance system.
Instead of trying to figure this all out yourself, let a professional (us) do the work for you. It’s more efficient, cheaper (in most cases), and gives you one less thing to worry about.
Sound good? Request a quote, today.
