A report by CEA, also known as the Construction Equipment Association shows that there has been a 50% rise in crimes to construction sites since the coronavirus lock down began in March. Here at Jensen Security we would like to urge those in the construction industry to tighten and improve their security measures. This will help reduce the risk of crimes to construction sites from these opportunistic thieves.
While the UK is in lock down many construction sites are left with no workers on site and unmanned, but high value plant equipment present. This makes construction sites the perfect target for thieves, especially during lock down. In 2019 it was reported that theft and vandalism on construction sites cost the industry around £800 million!
The Chartered Institute of Building conducted a survey recently. Their survey found that 92% of respondents had been directly affected by petty crime on their construction sites since lock down. This included 21% of respondents stating that their construction sites had been robbed on a weekly basis over the last few months.
Risk UK and Radius Telematics have also reported that there has been an increase in the thefts of commercial vehicles and plant machinery since the coronavirus lock down began. It seems that opportunistic thieves are taking advantage of the offices, factories and construction sites that are worker free and unattended.
Crimes to construction sites are extremely disruptive. It isn’t just about replacing the stolen vehicles, plant machinery and tools. The damage or vandalism needs to be repaired too. There will often be additional costs to the construction industry too. This includes the delays of construction work and the hiring of new plant machinery, vehicles and tools too. These costs can quickly add up, and it is much harder to resume work within a short timeframe.
It is essential that you ensure your construction site security is optimised. CCTV surveillance is a great deterrent for opportunistic thieves. If you want to protect your unmanned construction site but you’re not sure how – please contact our security specialists directly. We want to help reduce the crimes to construction sites. Let us help you protect your business and your construction site.
