Undoubtedly, construction sites are one of the places that require high-security measures and techniques to deter all kinds of criminal and unusual activities that may harm the project. Construction sites contain high-value resources, machinery, vehicles, equipment, and tools that attract intruders, burglars, and vandals.
It is only possible to safeguard all these expensive assets with comprehensive security planning. Good security planning and measures are not only essential for protecting the project’s assets from the stealers but also important for the worker’s safety and ensuring the project’s completion according to the schedule. In this blog post, we will dig deep and discuss a complete and detailed building site security plan that is impossible to breach.
Construction Site Security Checklist
Let’s first discuss the checklist for a complete security plan in the construction site and then discuss them in detail. Here are the following things and factors to check at first:
- Risk Assessment
- Video Surveillance
- Alarms and Intrusion Detection
- Perimeter Security
- Security Lighting
- Security Personnel
- Access Control and Key Management
- Emergency Contact Information and Planning
- Create a Security Policy
Above mentioned are the most important and essential factors a construction site should always pay attention to. Let’s discuss all of them one by one in detail for a better understanding.
1- Risk Assessment
Risk assessment means calculating and estimating the risk to your construction project at this time or in the future. You can talk to the local authorities about past incidents or contact the police to check the crime rate. These are all things that help you in risk assessment for security measures.
You can also calculate the cost of all the equipment, tools, vehicles, and other resources for the sake of risk assessment and create a security plan for your construction site that fits best. Moreover, talk to the locals and identify the potential threats and your project’s weaknesses to overcome them entirely.
2- Video Surveillance
Video Surveillance is one of the most basic but important needs when planning security. We live in a digital era and should use it as much as possible to enhance our security measures and plans. Installing mobile CCTV outside and fixed CCTV cameras inside can help secure your site from potential threats.
One can only call its security measures good with a high-resolution construction site video surveillance system. You can install high-resolution cameras all over your construction site, including the storage rooms, entry points, equipment storage, etc., to keep an eye on everything at all times from anywhere in the world.
The most significant benefit of advanced video surveillance is that you can monitor your site from anywhere in the world, just with the help of an app, ensuring everything is good. Cameras help you safeguard your site at night from potential threats and monitor the workers in the daytime.
3- Alarms and Intrusion Detection
Alarms are also one of the major inventions of this digital era that help a lot in enhancing and improving the security measures at construction sites. Combining both alarm systems and intrusion detection systems acts as an unbreakable security measure that alerts the security personnel or the authorities in case of any unauthorised or unusual activity at your construction site. The most important alarm and intrusion systems you can deploy at your site are:
- Motion detector and sensor
- Infrared Sensors
- Glass-break sensors
- Microwave and Ultrasonic Sensors
- Door and Window Sensors
These are all the alarms and intrusion detection systems you can have at your construction site, and you can connect them with your monitoring station or the local authorities for a quick and swift response in case of an alarm alert or any unusual activity detection.
4- Perimeter Security
Good fencing at the boundaries of the construction site acts as the first line of defence against any theft or vandalism. Having suitable perimeter security measures at your construction site is crucial, which is why you need to install fences made with rugged and weather-resistant material. Here are the top fences you can choose from to protect your construction site:
- Chain-Link Topped with Barbed Wires
- Anti-Climb Fencing
- Heras or Mesh Fencing
- Plastic Safety Barriers
- Steel Hoarding
- Timber Hoarding
The above-mentioned fences are proven, easy-to-get, and easy-to-install barriers you can have at your construction site to prepare an amazing first line of defence against all kinds of criminal and unusual activities.
5- Security Lighting
Construction Site Security lighting acts as a strong deterrent against all potential threats at night. It gives a message to intruders and vandals that the site is completely secured, and that the owner has prepared the site to deal with all kinds of difficult situations.
Security lighting also helps increase the sight of security personnel and identify unusual attempts to access the site. Additionally, security lights help to provide a better view for CCTV cameras and help capture good footage at the entry points and low-light areas.
6- Access Control and Key Management
Some areas of the construction site should be inaccessible to everyone. Only some specific and relevant persons should be allowed to enter and work there.
You can create a strict access management system to let only those people enter part of a project and have a sound key management system to enhance security measures.
A good video surveillance system should also monitor and track the number of people entering the area. Also, constantly changing the strategies and key management passwords minimises the risk of allowing unusual or irrelevant people to access sensitive areas of the construction project.
7- Emergency Contact Information and Planning
Emergencies can occur at any time, so all the security personnel, employees, and workers on the construction site must be aware of the basic protocols. You can create a proper plan and strategies to deal with the different kinds of emergencies at the construction site prior to them happening. Here are some of the emergencies that can occur at your construction site:
- Physical Accidents
- Natural Disasters
- Structural Collapses
- Medical Emergencies
- Equipment Malfunctions
- Fire Incidents
- Chemical and Hazardous Material Exposure
The emergencies mentioned above can happen at your construction site. You can conduct drills and train the security personnel and workers to deal with them calmly and professionally.
8- Create a Security Policy
It is important to create a detailed, comprehensive, and transparent security policy for all the personnel working and providing security to the construction site and the workers. After making the security policy, conduct different sessions and provide thorough training to them for the best security experience.
In these training sessions, let them know all the security protocols and ask them to perform different drills to deal with emergency situations.
The Importance of Construction Site Security
As we have discussed earlier, construction sites are always open to different kinds of threats and vulnerabilities. Excellent and comprehensive security planning is necessary to safeguard all the assets at the site to finish the work within the deadline.
The completion of the project before the deadline is also important for the contractor’s reputation. You can create an amazing security strategy by implementing the above-discussed steps at your construction site to ensure everything is safe and secure. Moreover, good security planning also provides complete peace of mind which helps in focusing on the other crucial elements of the project.
Guard Mark Security: The Best Security Planner
Guard Mark Security is a well-known and reputed construction site security provider company in the UK. We aren’t just a company with one security plan for everyone. We visit your construction site before you actually start the work, conduct a complete analysis, talk to the local authorities to learn about potential threats in the area, check the location history and past incidents, and come up with an amazing and customised security plan specific to your construction project’s needs and requirements.
All of our security guards are SIA licenced and are vetted following the BS7858 Standards, ensuring complete trustworthiness and peace of mind. Also, we provide weekly sessions to all of our security guards to ensure they are always ready to face any emergency and challenging situation in the best manner.
If you have any questions about our construction site security services, our dedicated and knowledgeable team is here 24/7 to answer all your queries. Ring us and let us handle all the security hurdles for you. So, you can concentrate on other important project factors to ensure timely completion.