Construction site theft is a major concern for developers, contractors and project managers. Sometimes, this may be seen as a cost of doing business. It shouldn’t.
Theft varies in magnitude and complexity. It ranges from theft of small tools that can easily be slipped into a worker’s pocket to carting away of truckloads of building materials and even equipment.
It is difficult to eliminate theft entirely especially given that even those who are entrusted with safeguarding these very materials sometimes collude to steal the same. Organisations should have strict policies on theft and all workers must be made aware of the consequences. Only vetted personnel should be put in charge of construction sites. Random staff rotation is encouraged.
Security must be tight at all times. At night, there should be enough lighting across the site and if possible standby power should be available.
Here are a few more measures that can reduce theft incidents.
Large or expensive equipment
For vehicles and high value equipment including towables such as generators and compressors, ensure they are fitted with GPS tracking.
Have monitored CCTV in all vulnerable locations for live and post-incident review.
Small tools
Have trusted security guards frisk every worker exiting the site every time. Metal detectors can also be used.
Keep tools in locked tool boxes and control the number of workers with access to the boxes so that in case of something goes missing, they will be held liable.
Building materials
On large sites, materials such as cement may “disappear” unnoticed. In a store with 537 bags for instance, one would not easily notice if a dozen or so bags were missing. In some cases, the artisans (popularly known as fundis) deliberately fail to arrange the cement in countable formation and instead pile up the bags haphazardly to facilitate theft.
It is advisable to bring to the site amounts that will be used for that particular day if possible. Bringing excess materials to the site is a recipe for disaster.
Maintain a proper daily inventory of all materials showing what was available at the start of the day, what came in, what was consumed and what remained at the end of the working day.
