Built to last

The huge risk of fraud and/or theft of assets during major project construction phases – coupled with the possibility of angry protests by pressure groups – necessarily means that on-site security is a priority for building companies including Bovis Lend Lease, Costain and Multiplex. As much as 10% of a project’s materials budget can be lost through theft and/or fraud. That’s frightening.

In times past, the aforementioned activities of pressure groups were considered to be one of the biggest threats, and often resulted in the requirement for specialist, contracted security guarding solutions that could deal with the ensuing problems. However, in today’s world the responsible construction contractors are beginning to deploy an effective mixture of on-site security from Day One to protect access and egress to site, while at the same time deterring and containing the theft of expensive assets including plant, machinery, aggregate building materials and tools.

That said, the latest statistics on theft from building sites – published by the National Plant and Equipment Register – would suggest that there’s still much room for improvement (see panel ‘Plant theft reaches all-time high: the 2006 Equipment Theft Report', overleaf).

Who is The Enemy?

Security managers need to know who will be targeting their construction sites, so who is into equipment theft? First, there are opportunist criminals. They generally zero-in on lower value items such as compressors, generators and smaller trailers, as well as hand tools that are easy to steal and sell on for cash.

Next up are the serious, organised criminals. They will target higher value plant and equipment including excavators, telescopic handlers and tractors.

Considerable organisation is required to steal larger equipment items in terms of locating it, moving it, exporting it, selling it and then changing its identity. The organised criminal knows all about plant and equipment. They will often target a specific type (or even make) of equipment, and will have planned – prior to the theft – what they will be doing with their ill-gotten gains. Export now, store and sell, alter or totally change the equipment’s identity (or perhaps break it up for parts).

In a sinister twist, this type of criminal will also use stolen equipment to facilitate other crimes, such as the theft of backhoe loaders to enable the extrication of Automated Teller Machines from bank branches (one such loader, you’ll recall, was used for the attempted ‘diamond’ heist at the Millennium Dome). Maybe even the partial destruction of Cash-in-Transit vehicles, thus allowing access to the cash compartment of the secure vehicle.

Serious organised criminals can be violent and will not think twice about carrying weapons. One incident reported to the National Plant and Equipment Register involved two men trying to recover their stolen telehandler. They were threatened with a sawn-off shotgun. In another incident, a box full of 9 mm bullets was found behind the dashboard of a recovered backhoe loader.

What about The Enemy Within? With several different contractors and sub-contractors entering and exiting sites during the course of any given working day, build projects may be exposed to a variety of ‘slippery’ practices, from illegal ‘moonlighting’ to the non-delivery of already-invoiced materials. Preventing such occurrences can go a long way towards reducing the overall cost of a multi-million pound build programme.

What’s the best way forward?

To date, construction companies looking to achieve high levels of on-site security have been able to deploy the services of a range of security guarding providers – both non-specialists and those specifically trained for this scenario. Historically, companies such as Reliance Project Security (RPS), for example, only offered security personnel who were thoroughly trained and equipped to manage the threat. For example, dealing with protestors requires specialist skills in restraint techniques, physical removal of people from site and carrying out citizens’ arrests. On top of that there is the Health and Safety scenario.

However, with the rapid development of technology including remote monitoring, the ability to deliver high impact security solutions without total reliance on the human presence is fast-becoming a reality.

It would be fair to say that some construction contractors – like a good many other purchasers of security services – have been guilty of the grudge purchase syndrome. They have sought cheap solutions that inevitably led to poor quality services, massive staff churn and unacceptable behavioural issues. At the same time, that high churn of personnel leads to poor service continuity and minimal scope for any improvement.

For many, the answer to this particular problem lies squarely in the provision of trained, licensed officers working in tandem with new security technologies.

In many ways, parts of the construction, plant and equipment sectors are like the Wild West of old. There appears to be little regulation, too much reliance on the cash-in-hand culture and low levels of policing – either by law enforcement agencies or the practitioners actually involved

CCTV and access control systems

When it comes to technology, a number of different security solutions might be deployed – including both stand-alone and integrated options. Traditionally, CCTV (of course) has always been considered as a means to detect and respond to intrusions, validate (and respond to) alarms and capture images of unwanted intruders for identification.

Remote and local CCTV monitoring is now becoming ubiquitous. 24-hour, seven-days-a-week monitoring and image recording can check the access and egress of vehicles and their loads, while also serving as a valuable deterrent to vandalism, criminal damage, asset theft and fraud.

Should any assets or materials reportedly delivered go missing at some stage, images captured on CCTV can then be examined for suspicious activity.

From a cost-efficiency perspective, too, CCTV monitoring has taken a giant leap forward with breakthroughs in communication technology enabling the swift transmission of voice and video-based pictures, plus the delivery of data over IP networks. On those construction sites already operating an IP network for their data communications, the deployment of an IP-based monitoring service can realise huge cost savings over more traditional communications. There is also an opportunity there to maximise the original IP investment, of course.

Collating management information

In much the same way, the deployment of access control solutions not only helps to restrict access to people and vehicles, but can also be used to collate access and egress management information. Access control systems can store data on the times of deliveries and the names and companies of those contractors/subcontractors making them. On some sites, electronic chip-based access cards are used. These contain an individual’s unique biometrics (for example, fingerprint detailing) to validate their identity.

Access control systems can also be highly effective when combined with CCTV to provide the added security of image and card-based recognition. Here, an individual seeking access to a site is ‘caught’ on camera when swiping his/her card to gain entry. The image is then matched automatically against an existing photograph stored on the database. Only if the two are compatible will access be allowed.

This type of integrated technology can also be successfully deployed to restrict vehicle access, making it a particularly useful solution for construction sites given the high volumes of traffic. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (or ANPR) systems will record vehicle number plates, and then match them to existing data (any action is triggered by the access control card). Entry is allowed upon a correct match.

Permanent and temporary alarms

Portable alarms employing the latest digital technology can prove cost-effective in that they readily adapt to meet a site’s evolving profile. As a temporary security system, a wireless alarm response mechanism is ideal as the installation is less ‘destructive’ than a hard-wired, permanent system. It’s also a lot quicker, while the radio-linked sensors are free to be moved around at the security manager’s discretion. No wires. No cut cables. No repositioning problems. No fuss!

Climbing frames to some, access to valuable assets for others... By their very nature, scaffolds allow access to whatever they have been erected against. Security professionals managing construction sites should always specify scaffold alarms. The requirement for scaffolds to be alarmed started back in the 1980s in London, and has grown to such an extent that contents insurance will be void if the scaffold on the building is not alarmed.

A scaffold security alarm detects the intruder accessing the first vulnerable lift of the scaffold using a combination of microwave, active and passive infrared detectors.

The risk of plant and materials theft may be further enhanced by the use of asset tagging. This involves the electronic tagging of individual items, allowing them to be monitored and tracked using a Global Positioning System.