Alexis Potter is managing director of CCTV supplier BauWatch UK
As stories about shoplifting hit the front pages and supermarkets rally together to crack down on the issue, my thoughts turn again to the problem of construction theft and what can be done to stop it.
“On large projects, with many temporary workers, it can be difficult to enforce a stringent site-access policy”
It’s no secret that our industry is battling with its own, expensive crime epidemic. In fact, it’s estimated that approximately £800m is lost to theft per year – the equivalent of around 23,000 new JCB diggers. And while energy farms, housing estates and other types of in-progress building site are vulnerable to the odd opportunist looking for a spare can of fuel, the real perpetrators are organised gangs and inside criminals, who are much more difficult to track, stop and catch.
Construction sites are goldmines for materials and equipment, so are ripe for plundering, especially with the resale value of commodities like copper skyrocketing in the past two years (approximately £3.50 to £6.50 per kg). Not only that, but the high turnover rates of staff and the comings and goings of subcontractors, the mobility of the workforce and the temporary nature of project work make construction sites easy targets for crime.
According to reports, the recent copper heist at metals supplier Aurubis – the largest in history – may have involved insiders, and the Chartered Institute of Building’s data indicates that incidents of construction-related theft most frequently involve subcontracted staff. But on large projects, with many temporary workers, it can be difficult to enforce a stringent site-access policy, so many firms do not know how to fix the problem.
All these ingredients are a recipe for disaster. And with a weak UK economy tightening purse strings, metal-price inflation increasing, and nights getting darker, the situation is worsening.
New legislation
That’s not to say that action isn’t being taken to mitigate the problem. Important legislation is currently making its way through parliament, designed to slash equipment theft on construction sites. The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act will create regulations that restrict the sale of certain equipment and tools used by tradespeople, agricultural businesses and other industries. This should help to prevent the theft and resale of equipment on the black market.
Elsewhere, the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) has a long-standing and strong commitment to supporting the UK police force in the fight against machinery theft. The Official CESAR Scheme, launched by the CEA back in 2007, has had a major impact on criminality across agriculture and construction, driving down theft significantly for the machinery brands that have adopted it. In September, it launched an agricultural and construction equipment specialist police unit to be managed and operated within Opal, which is the national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime across the UK.
The police and the Security Industry Association (SIA) are also working to crack down on rogue security guards. Human guards are still used on many construction sites, despite carrying the risk of being co-opted by criminals. Now, anyone not registered with the SIA faces possible imprisonment and a £5,000 fine, while SIA blue badges must be worn by all security guards. In the Merseyside area, Operation Seahog ran checks on security guards on site to send a clear message to the industry and security companies that guards must be registered with the SIA.
Sit up and act
The question is: is this enough? As someone who monitors for trespassers on a daily basis, I can tell you that it’s not. With supermarkets on the cusp of launching facial recognition technology into high streets to curb shoplifting, it makes me wonder why big firms do not rally in the same way to attract more attention to this problem.
In the meantime, though, they need to cover their own backs by doing their own due diligence. That means getting some kind of safeguarding strategy and tools in place at the start of every project. This should be an agile strategy that is enhanced when the site is at its most vulnerable – for instance, when there’s a larger number of fitting tools on site, or high-value items like boilers lying around, creating additional risk.
On a large scale, these patterns of vulnerability, if spotted and correctly reported, have the potential to greatly improve site security and tactics. It’s time for everyone in our industry to sit up, pay attention and take action against theft – or it will continue to be a big productivity drain.
