Construction BUSINESS

“Netwatch has seen a significant rise in recent months of attempted thefts and intrusions on construction sites, which are particularly vulnerable due to their openness. With Netwatch, these thefts are prevented, but for many unprotected sites it can have a hugely detrimental effect on their overall business and profitability. Construction site owners and Contractors suffer not only the loss of their materials, but also downtime, disruption to the project schedule and even financial penalties due to the enforced delay in project completion.”  David Walsh of Netwatch Systems

Ireland’s construction sector is experiencing steady and healthy growth. While not quite up to pre boom production, the sector is set to grow by more than 20% this year according to Construction consultancy firm Bruce Shaw[1]. The firm predicts the output of the construction industry will be worth in the region of €15 billion in 2016, with costs rising by 7% throughout the year.

While increased costs and a lack of skilled resources are flagged as potential threats to growth in the industry, there is one issue that has been largely overlooked: crime. The upsurge in the construction industry will no doubt be tempting for criminals, and we have already seen a spate of border county crimes late last year that saw valuable machinery stolen from building sites and farms across multiple counties.[2] This has prompted Garda Sgt Paul Wallace, Divisional Crime Prevention Officer based in Donegal, to come out and warn construction companies to be more careful, taking measures such as fitting ‘kill switches’ to machinery and locking up machinery in secure areas.

The prevalence of crime in the construction sector, and its effect on Irish construction businesses, is detailed in a recent body of research undertaken by ISME on crime in Ireland in 2015. This survey shows that one third of construction businesses were affected by crime in 2015. It is the industry with the third highest rate of crime, after retail and general services.

When the results are broken down further, it shows that a full 37% of construction companies who were victims of crime in the last year had been victims of attempted burglary. 37% had fallen victims to fraud, while a further 29% suffered a theft at the hands of their own staff. These figures show an alarming amount of theft and fraudulent activity both from external parties and, perhaps more alarmingly, from within companies themselves.

Invest in Business Continuity, Not Just Security

When it comes to security and crime prevention, construction companies may not be investing enough given the extremely expensive and valuable equipment they often have on their sites. The real costs of crime can be the downtime resulting from even small thefts, delayed schedules and reordering of materials can have large effect on profits and timings. This leaves them wholly unprepared for disaster recovery should they be the victims of crime. According to the ISME survey, use of alarms is still the primary crime prevention tool and yet are only used by 67% of respondents. Just over half (56%) of respondents are using CCTV, and only half of companies have access control on their sites. These figures would suggest that there are still a number of construction businesses in Ireland who are leaving themselves open to crime, both internal and external.

Part of the issue with the construction industry’s current security measures is that they are focused on crime solving rather than crime prevention and business continuity. If a burglary occurs, CCTV footage can help catch the culprit, but would it not be preferable to prevent the theft before it happens? This is exactly what our team at Netwatch has shifted its focus to; using considerable expertise and cutting edge technology to prevent crime and aid business continuity as much as possible and, if needed, provide expert disaster recovery services.

Netwatch is a specialist in creating tailored solutions for the industry verticals it works in. Their portable and rapid deployment solutions, the Commander and Protector units, are particularly suited to the construction industry. Using their Managed Service model these very cost and time effective solutions. Through its crime prevention services, Netwatch has already prevented over 35,000 crimes across businesses in Ireland.

A continued understanding of the construction industry is key to providing an outstanding service, and Netwatch has the experience and the insight to work with construction business owners and develop security solutions tailored to their needs. As the wider construction industry goes from strength to strength, it is of utmost importance to know the risks associated with your business and strive to prevent crime at every level – for both business continuity and maintaining a safe environment for your employees.

For more information, please visit www.netwatchsystems.com