When you’re in charge of a remote construction site, there are many different things that you may be worried about, such as budgets, materials, or labor. However, there’s one thing that you may not have thought of — security. The thought of securing any remote construction site — large or small — may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s why: You can protect your construction site with solar video surveillance.
Importance of a Construction Security Plan
First, it’s important to know that construction site security systems must meet many different needs, be dynamic, and be creative to be effective. Therefore, a construction security plan is often the first step because it provides you with a guideline on how best to protect the site. A 21st-century security system needs a comprehensive plan that includes innovative tactics.
The construction security plan is beneficial because you can potentially see any shortcomings for security for your site. Logistically, securing an entire construction site is difficult to thwart sophisticated criminals. The construction security plan details who is in charge of security, what phases are needed for security, site risk assessment, and details of involved employees and procedures. This also involves a discussion of the equipment you’ll use, such as solar video surveillance.
Here are some of the important topics covered in a construction security plan:
- Physical security measures
- Materials on-site and their value, including where they’ll be stored
- Description of vital documents and plans for their protection
However, before you can effectively create a construction security plan, you need to know what your major concerns are at your site.
Construction Site Security Concerns
There are two main threats to construction sites: (1) vandalism and (2) theft. Both incidents are common. Vandalism occurs for a variety of reasons, such as political motivation, financial motivation, or simply being easy to access and offering an easy target. Theft can occur both internally and externally due to the open nature of most construction sites. As a result, construction site security is important. In most cases, construction sites do not have adequate lighting, have no control points, are not adequately surveilled, and have questionable organization during the work process. You may have immense organization in the materials and documents, but when workers are putting it all together, organization sometimes falls to the wayside. Two of the most commonly stolen items are fuel and metal.
Your best option may be remote solar video surveillance.
Remote Solar Video Surveillance
You could hire guards. However, not only will this cost a lot of money in the long-term, but they also have too many duties to handle in a large construction site if there are only one or two guards. In 2020, a major tool being recommended is remote video surveillance. This is because technology has finally advanced where a large construction site can be protected across multiple angles. Advantages of this type of surveillance include:
- Two-way audio
- Solar recharge
- Access point control
- Camera network
To set a system like this up, first you’ll have a consultation, which includes an examination of the site. This allows for the best options for developing a plan that will keep your construction site secure. In fact, one of the key elements is the recognition that while you can make plans and basic standards, each site is unique and needs its own tools.
With a consultation and an examination, a plan can be made. This includes things like:
- Camera installation locations
- Access control deployment
- Access limitations
- Types of camera
Once these decisions are made, the system is installed and monitoring begins. Here’s an example:
Through monitoring, an unknown individual is on-site. Using facial recognition, efforts will be made at identification. If no identification can be made, it is assumed the individual is not authorized. In response, remote access will be used to lock down key areas and law enforcement will be contacted, as will the manager of the construction site. It’s also recognized that, at times, there may be errors in recognition, such as a visitor to an employee that got lost. However, keeping your construction site safe is most important.
After law enforcement is notified, two-way radios may be used to alert the unauthorized person. Although, in the case of a person planning to engage in criminal activity, the individual may run, the camera has already captured an image of their face, which will help in finding them to prevent further crime. In cases where the person is mistakenly unauthorized, the situation can be sorted out.
Remote solar video surveillance is beneficial for construction sites. In 2020, it’s almost imperative for maintaining security. Take advantage of this type of technology to create a place that is safer, not only for your employees, but also in context of keeping your equipment and materials safe. Think about this — it was estimated by the US National Insurance Crime Bureau that in one year, over $1 billion of equipment is stolen from construction sites. Copper wiring, on the other hand, accounts for another $1 billion. As noted, these aren’t the only things stolen, but they do represent a whopping $2 billion in thefts annually.
Conclusion
Remote solar video surveillance is important for protecting construction sites. Not only does it help with the small areas, but it also helps with protecting those hard-to-see areas, such as behind wood piles or behind buildings. Using remote solar video surveillance will ensure that you have the best opportunities to be sure that your company remains reputable, not only caring about the job that is being completed, but also about the security of the owners. This shows a level of professionalism on your end that indicates that you not only care about making money through the project, but also ensuring that your money and that of the owner’s is kept safe by keeping the site safe from criminal activity that can lead to increased costs.
You probably have a lot more questions about remote solar video surveillance. Contact us to learn more about this type of surveillance and how it can be best implemented.
