It is claimed that almost 500 pieces of machinery, equipment and plant are stolen each month from construction and rural sites, with development, housing and regeneration projects suffering delays and increased costs as a result.
In a follow up to its 'Guards versus Technology' paper last year, VPS have now published a white paper focusing on the construction industry.
"We’ve launched this special edition white paper on construction site security for two main reasons." says Simon Alderson, the Development Director for VPS and the elected Chairman of the Vacant Property Protection Group of the BSIA, the British Security Industry Association.
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"Firstly, the data on plant and equipment theft from construction sites is staggering. 1 in 5 sites experience vandalism weekly, at least £400 million of plant and equipment get stolen annually, and because a pitifully small percentage of that is ever recovered, such thefts are seen as a ‘low-risk’ gamble." Mr Alderson explains.
"Secondly, we have tracked across the whole range of security options, so we could compare the pros and cons of the use of the more traditional security methods such as guards, with the increasingly sophisticated technologies available today."
"Guards are the right choice in certain contexts, but lower-cost, highly capable technological options are fast chasing that market. Sometimes the best-fit solution combines fewer manned security guards with more specialist technologies. Better, more dynamic security strategies for building sites are required."
The white paper "Dynamic Site Security: Guards versus Technology – which is best?" is available as a pdf on the VPS website.
