Vehicle CCTV: Preventing Theft and Injury on Construction Sites

Theft and injury appear to be on the rise on construction sites across the globe. It’s a worrying trend which leaves managers desperate for solutions to protect tools and machinery.

Brigade looks at the steps that can be taken to safeguard property on site.

A look at the statistics for construction site theft make grim reading. A recent UK survey by Bauwatch* estimated that theft costs the industry at least £800 million per year – and that’s only the incidents that are reported. 70% of respondents said they had witnessed on-site theft at least once a year, with 19% saying they saw it every few months. 62% said that theft had increased in the last year. This has major consequences, with 31% of projects suffering a delay due to crime, and 24% of goods which are stolen being expensive vehicles and machinery.

In the US, statistics from the National Equipment Register at the Department of Energy show that there are over 11,000 incidents of construction equipment theft every year, with a financial loss of around $6,000 per incident. The most frequently stolen vehicles are wheeled and tracked loaders, with trucks being the most expensive targets, losing businesses around $42,000 per theft. In addition, $1 billion worth of copper is stolen from building sites across the US.

In Europe, according to the European Rental Assocation (ERA), theft from European construction sites incurs an annual estimated cost of €1.5 billion. Insurance data from the Joint Research Centre puts the recovery rate for stolen machinery in Europe at just 25%.

Theft of vehicles, tools and materials is increasing exponentially, frequently as a result of organised crime. Stolen construction vehicles are regularly used for bank and cash machine robberies and there is a flourishing black market for all types of tools, particularly power tools.

On an even more serious note, in the UK alone in 2022/2023 there were 45 fatal injuries to workers on construction sites. US statistics report roughly 150,000 construction site injuries every year. In 2022 there were around 364,000 construction accidents in the EU.

With backhoe loaders, dumpers and excavators rotating and reversing at random, a construction site running to a tight deadline is a hazardous place to work. Bad weather conditions can lead to poor visibility and often a site will either be a sea of mud in winter or clouded by dust in summer. The chances of front, rear and side blind spots leading to collisions are enhanced by the fact that workers often wear ear defenders, which makes them unable to hear machines or audible warnings.

A construction site is constantly busy. It’s impossible effectively to police every part, just as it’s impossible to ensure site safety for workers, without a rigorous and coordinated approach.

This is why fitting all vehicles with security camera systems has become of paramount importance to responsible site managers.

To reduce the possibility of theft, the installation of dashcams and CCTV in vehicles should be a priority. Brigade’s dashcams and cameras are linked to a Mobile Digital Recorder (MDR) which records any activity around the vehicle. This footage is vital evidence in the event of both fuel theft or theft of the entire vehicle. Not only does it serve as a deterrent to prevent thieves from targeting vehicles in the first place, it also provides important evidence should a crime take place.

The fully managed 4G service enables alerts to be programmed – for example, when a person is detected near the vehicle. The system allows operators to remotely access vehicles and alert security if necessary, providing peace of mind, particularly when vehicles need to be left overnight.

Vehicle safety and security solutions provided by Brigade have helped safeguard both workers and machines at numerous construction sites since our foundation in 1976.

All our vehicle safety products are certified to ISO9001:2015, and our principal manufacturing facilities are certified to IATS 16949:2016. Why not contact us if you’d like to learn more about keeping your building site free of theft and injury.