13 Benefits of Using a CCTV System on Your Construction Site
You live for the hustle and bustle of the construction site, it is your chosen career, and it can be quite invigorating.
However, the very thing that makes your construction site exciting also makes it dangerous.
In addition to being a breeding ground for injury accidents, construction sites are a magnet for theft.
In fact, research shows that construction site equipment theft costs between $300 million and a billion dollars each year.
If you’re wondering whether to install a CCTV system on your construction site, here’s a rundown on 13 benefits of using this type of system in the construction field.
Let’s get started!
1. Supervise Your Construction Workers with a CCTV System
A particularly important advantage of having a CCTV system at your site is its ability to give you a much better view of your employees’ activities.
If you’re a project manager, this is invaluable. After all, a construction site is a lot like a beehive.
You’re happy to see all of your hard workers going to and fro, but this also makes it challenging to account for any and all activities that take place at the site.
That’s where CCTV comes in.
With a quality system, you can easily buzz through recorded footage of your entire site and thus stay on top of your workers’ work rate levels on a regular basis.
2. Determine How Resources Are Being Used
In addition to keeping a close eye on how hard your employees are working — or not working — CCTV can help you to determine your construction site’s resource usage level.
This is invaluable because the amount of activity taking place at your site is usually so high that you can’t account for your resource usage fully.
Examples of resources that require monitoring include employee gear, cement and hardware tools, and oh so many other tools and gadgets.
3. Analyze Your Construction Project’s Progress
Another reason to install a CCTV system at your construction site?
You can keep a close eye on the site, in general, to effectively respond to any needs that crop up there.
For instance, you can learn from your camera footage how your current project is progressing.
Will you need additional resources, like skilled labor, to finish the project in the near future?
Yes, you’ll still likely need to visit your work site from time to time to observe it in person.
But a camera can come in handy as an immensely convenient “personal assistant” when you can’t be there.
4. Prevent Crime
A major hindrance that many construction sites face is having to maintain the site’s security levels, particularly when the area is dormant or when nobody is watching.
Unfortunately, a construction site is a prime target for a vandal.
Even if vandals may not necessarily want to steal your equipment, they may be interested in destroying it for “fun.”
However, CCTV footage can help you to pinpoint the nonsense and any inconsistencies taking place at your site.
These cameras can even indicate that a crime is about to happen on site.
At the same time, the presence of the cameras themselves may help to deter vandals altogether.
Cameras may also prevent theft by disgruntled workers who want to steal spare materials or equipment.
And theft can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
5. Aid in a Criminal Case
Let’s say that someone is taken into custody for stealing from your construction site or committing another criminal act there.
Your CCTV system’s camera footage may serve as evidence in the criminal case.
In fact, it may be the only strong evidence that prosecutors can secure in the case.
Having that back up means that you are covered, can successfully win the case, and get the ball rolling again.
6. Aid in a Civil Personal Injury Lawsuit
Just as your CCTV camera may help in a criminal case, it could provide valuable evidence in a civil personal injury lawsuit as well.
Of course, you want your work site to remain free from injury accidents.
However, it’s not a bad idea to remain prepared for the unexpected- life throws us for a wild ride at times.
When you capture your site’s daily events on camera, you create for yourself a record that may prove helpful in a civil court proceeding.
If a member of the public attempts to sue you for reportedly injuring him or her, camera footage has your back.
7. Manage Your Site Remotely
In years past, project managers had to depend on their subordinates unreliable reports to determine what was taking place at their construction sites.
Or they had to physically go to the sites to determine what their workers were doing — a task that could have taken hours.
Nowadays, though, you can depend on CCTV cameras to watch your site for you- they are your eyes and ears.
Being able to manage your site remotely saves you time, energy and money — all of which are valuable resources for any project manager or construction site manager in 2019.
8. Promote Worker Safety
As the manager of a construction site, you’re legally obligated to know exactly who is at the site.
You also need to know where everyone is.
This is critical in case an emergency happens, which is highly likely at a construction site given its inherently hazardous nature.
With CCTV, you can easily monitor your site to see what areas or aspects of it need to be improved to better promote worker safety and thus prevent worksite accidents.
For instance, camera footage may provide insights into not only work site accidents but also horseplay, dangerous acts and omissions, bullying, disputes, and aggressive behavior.
All of this can threaten your worker’s health and safety, which can cost you both financially and reputation-wise in the long run.
9. Record Injury Accidents Involving Workers
No matter how hard you try to prevent injury-causing incidents at the work site (as we discussed in the last point), sometimes accidents are inevitable.
Fortunately, a CCTV system can still come in handy in this situation.
With such a system, you can review your camera footage frame by frame to analyze a recent injury accident and find out its root cause.
Then, you can use this information to support an accident report and even a legal dispute stemming from the work injury.
You could also use this information to take disciplinary action, if necessary, as well as make the necessary corrective actions to prevent the incident from occurring again.
Another injury-causing issue you may encounter at your construction site is a machinery malfunction.
CCTV is perfect for monitoring these types of occurrences.
When you thoroughly assess worksite incidents with the help of CCTV, you can drastically reduce the frequency and quantity of on-site accidents.
10. Gain Feedback in Real Time
A major benefit of CCTV is that not only can you review camera footage of your construction site later but also you can view events there in real time.
In fact, with a quality system, you can enjoy live monitoring by professionals with law enforcement experience.
You could even “talk to” your site using a loudspeaker, which can be helpful and terrifying for talking down suspects who are about to commit crimes at your site
When you can see what’s going on at your site at any given moment, you’re more likely to spot and stop issues before they turn into major problems.
11. Help with Insurance
By helping to prevent criminal activity, a CCTV system may minimize how much you pay to insure your property.
That’s because you’re less likely to be targeted, which means your risk is lower.
In addition, if you do fall victim to a burglary, your insurance provider may consider your claim to be more legitimate if you have camera footage to support it.
12. Maintain a Peace of Mind
This is a major benefit of having a CCTV system — one you can’t ignore if you’re a construction site manager.
Camera systems can be particularly useful in areas known to have high rates of crime.
However, crime and accidents can happen anywhere and at any time, so it only makes sense to invest in one of these systems wherever you are.
The more secure you feel about your workers’ safety and about not losing your costly resources, the better your work-related quality of life will be.
13. Enjoy Around-the-Clock Coverage
You can’t constantly keep an eye on what’s going on at your construction site — not if you want to have a life outside of work, too.
Fortunately, top-notch camera systems record activities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Therefore, you don’t have to worry about missing a beat.
And the best part?
With the right system, you can access your cameras through a smartphone app, which means you can take a peek at your site at any time if you need to.
Now that’s the way security should be envisioned.
Thank you, Technology.
How We Can Help
We offer top-of-the-line video surveillance systems for construction managers and other business leaders.
Our systems come with a variety of convenient features, including a 360-degree-view of your site, and even blue/red police lights to deter criminal activity.
Contact us to find out more about how a CCTV system can add value to your work site this fall.
Let’s envision what security looks like- together.
