Construction projects are vulnerable on multiple fronts. Video surveillance means they don’t have to be easy targets for criminals.
Installing video surveillance has many advantages for every kind of business. Those in the construction industry can benefit more than most because they know that “closing” a site after hours is a lot harder than it sounds. You can fence it off, lock the gates, and maybe hire a physical security guard to patrol the premises, but all these options have weaknesses that criminals can exploit.
Fences can be jumped or cut through, for example, and locks can be broken. Security guards are humans with limited fields of vision. They aren’t always reliable witnesses, and they can be intimidated or taken out of commission by hostile intruders. Installing a video surveillance system is a much more reliable form of construction site security.
Here’s how this technology can shield any site from the built-in risks construction faces.
Video cameras versus thieves
Valuable equipment, building materials, and workers’ personal possessions are just some of the items that make the construction industry one of the biggest victims of industrial theft. Nearly $1 billion is lost annually, after all, and much of what’s stolen is never recovered.
There are many smart moves construction site owners and managers can make to secure these sites, however, and video surveillance is one of them. Cameras visible to criminals but beyond their ability to tamper sends a powerful message that they’re being watched.
There will always be a reckless element who persist in crime, regardless of risk. This is where video footage provides a reliable witness that won’t forget the details you can use to make thieves pay.
Surveillance helps in handling accidents
The potential for accidents on a construction site is immense. Equipment, scaffolding, and blind spots for vehicles and people can all quickly become a liability. Sites are also full of flammable elements like lumber, electrical outlets, and fuel sources.
Video surveillance can provide enhanced visual capacity to monitor high-risk areas, and the data these units provide can be pivotal in reducing the odds of someone being hurt. The systems can also work together. State-of-the-art technology like the Ramtech WES3 System can be installed to completement camera systems by providing advanced alerts of smoke, heat, and water flow as well as evacuation assistance in construction’s combustible environments, for example.
Another risk attached to workplace accidents only hurts employers, and that risk is fraud. Employees can – and do – fake injuries to obtain worker’s compensation payments or other financial settlements (check out some classic signs of this scheme). Video surveillance can be valuable in establishing the validity of injury claims because it captures accidents as they happen. This grants employers more power to provide for legitimately injured workers while preventing unethical ones from receiving payouts.
Video cameras can deter and punish trespassers
A large number of people will see your construction site as either a playground or a canvas. Sometimes trespassers are just kids looking for a place to hang out (or from, as they use scaffolding and equipment as climbing frames). Other times, your site may become a target for taggers: graffiti “artists” looking to leave gang signs, slogans, or other defacements on your project. This is more than just a visual complaint, though, as tagging can actually bring entire construction projects to a halt.
Stopping taggers and trespassers in their tracks gets much easier when you install a video surveillance system. The sight of cameras may be enough to make them think twice and, even if they persist, video gives you footage you can use to increase the chances of an arrest and prosecution. Keeping your site clean sends a good message to the surrounding community and tells taggers you’re watching.
A breakdown of how mobile video surveillance works
We’ve covered the advantages of investing in construction site surveillance. Now, let’s spotlight how these units get the job done:
Night and thermal vision
Construction site criminals often rely on low-light conditions to cover their activities. Thermal and night vision options rob them of that advantage and help establish a security perimeter for clear long-range intrusion detection and license plate reading.
Off-site monitoring by experienced agents
Around-the-clock, 24/7 monitoring looks after your site during daylight, while surveillance agents with law enforcement experience monitor things during the crime-critical hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Agents can activate blue and red strobe lights on the mobile security units to scare intruders, plus speak to them via built-in loudspeakers and alert law enforcement if required.
360-degree views from the air
Physical security guards have a limited field of vision, but cameras don’t. Mobile units provide multiple camera views to monitor an entire site from heights of 20 feet.
Remote video access
Site managers no longer have to physically visit a site to check its security feeds. Modern surveillance units are linked to a mobile app, which means they can be checked from anywhere at any time.
Employee monitoring
It’s a hard fact that the thieves who thrive on stealing a construction site’s valuable items are often people who are actually hired to work there. On-site thieves have the perfect opportunity to steal because they know the locations of valuables and how and when to get to them. Video surveillance creates a zero-trust environment that can prevent these inside jobs.
Add in 24-hour surveillance during weekends and holidays and the right mobile video surveillance company presents the comprehensive answer to every construction site security risk.
Connect with us for superior site protection
Install. Monitor. React. Save. The process couldn’t be simpler with Mobile Video Guard’s quick and easy set-up. We can help your site save money by preventing theft, damages, accident claims, and the heavy expense of lost time involved in rectifying them. Our team will bring or ship units directly to you, giving you surveillance that’s rentable monthly without restrictive and expensive contracts.
Contact Mobile Video Guard for a free, same-day quote to fit your next project with our instant and no-obligation protection.
