Explore why the best eyewitness protection for businesses is the kind that never blinks
There are many good reasons to use video surveillance at your worksite and its connected areas to protect against thieves, vandals, and trespassers. One fact that employers often overlook: Bad actors don’t always come from outside and carry a criminal record. It’s sometimes your own workers or those visiting your site who are looking to hurt you.
We’re referring to fraudulent insurance claims and their great potential to cause a company financial and reputational loss while potentially slowing or entirely closing a workplace. Video surveillance cameras are the most powerful tool you can have to prevent theft, vandalism, or catching frauds in the act and successfully prosecuting them.
Let’s explore how combining visual documentation with broader preparatory measures can help your business crack down on criminals and give false claimants a genuine headache.
A closer look at frauds and thieves
Watching this surveillance video confirms two things: Video cameras can provide invaluable and inarguable evidence, and fake claims take very little work to manufacture. That workplace was smart and avoided what could have been an employer liability claim easily reaching tens of thousands of dollars through processes like upcoding, a kind of workers compensation fraud where even the healthcare providers are in on the scam.
Thieves are also trying to get their piece of your profits by breaking into sites and stealing valuable materials and equipment, which is a serious problem for the construction industry. An important thing to note about the fake fall video clip is how well-kept that cafeteria was, and yet it was still easy to falsify a claim with minimal effort. Imagine how much easier it is for frauds if a workplace already has conditions more believable for an “accident.”
Fight fire with video-based fire prevention
You can’t change human nature. You can, however, alter how your worksite is organized to minimize the tools and opportunities fraudsters and other criminals rely on. Having a workplace where accidents are just waiting to happen is a dream come true for scammers who will have to do little or no work to fake illness or injury and have it look legitimate.
A good place to start is prioritizing fire safety. Even a small on-site fire can cause inhalation damage through smoke and possibly toxic fumes released from flammable fuels and other combustible materials. Inhalation injury is much easier to fake than a burn, and fraudsters can further capitalize on any smoke by claiming they lost their footing, fell, or hit something hard because they couldn’t see.
Creating a clear and effective fire prevention plan is key to protecting personnel and visitors from harm and making it harder for someone to file a false claim against you. Combined with archived video footage, these plans can be very effective in stopping accidental workplace fires and preventing or proving the work of bad actors.
Mobile Video Guard also offers the WES3 system, which businesses can deploy at multiple points in a workplace. These cutting-edge units operate on independent power to provide fire alerts for site managers and our own highly trained personnel to ensure rapid response to actual or potential threats.
Eliminate blind spots in your business
Our earlier blog detailed how rooting out security blind spots via video surveillance helps protect hard-to-see areas from trespassers. It’s also a best practice for any business looking to deny fake claims. Areas that are out of the way are perfect places for a worker to fake an injury. There will be no witnesses, leaving companies little chance of avoiding employer liability.
Visitors to a workplace, such as tradespeople or consumers, can also exploit blind spots to take advantage of unprepared businesses. The majority of fake slips and falls are aimed at businesses like retail stores and their related spaces, and such fraudulent claims are on the rise.
Improving workplace safety, tackling fraud, and reducing the potential of theft are some of the top reasons to install video surveillance. One more reason ties directly into today’s theme: not losing money where you don’t have to.
Video surveillance saves money on multiple fronts
We’ve highlighted how video documentation can save money by preventing fraudulent claims, accidents, and theft. Video cameras are also automatic money savers purely from a practical viewpoint. Hiring physical guards can be prohibitively expensive, especially when factoring in overtime of any kind. Construction sites could be facing security bills of up to $11,000 a month for on-site personnel.
We’re proud to help keep 65%-90% of those dollars in our customers’ pocket, and all without compromising the high standards of security we deliver. We can also provide our versatile solutions on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis so you have the financial and physical flexibility to secure any location with any budget.
Contact the surveillance experts with any questions
The last thing you want is to have no record of an incident at your workplace. Video recordings can help you prosecute thieves and vandals while protecting against employee negligence or malicious action that could otherwise be blamed on unsafe working conditions.
Mobile Video Guard can work with you to create a site-specific plan that fits your project’s needs and your company’s budget. Contact our expert staff to learn more about getting the best video surveillance as, when, and where you need it without the burden of long-term contracts.
