Any construction site is easily prone to thieves and burglars as there is a huge amount of construction equipment and material lying in the open. Even though the risks depend on locality and how safe it is, it can still be exposed to other threats such as vandalism and terrorism
Theft: High value material and equipment lying in the open or being transported from one place to another provides opportunist thieves with a chance to plan raids.
Vandalism: Any personal or corporate vendetta can be a reason for vandalism, as can be mindless lust for damage and destruction.
Terrorism: There is always a high risk of terrorists pre-positioning devices to perform destructive acts after the completion of construction.
Construction site security is mainly the responsibility of the site operator, but some companies like to entrust it to their own security agency as well. Building and construction sites are always a security challenge by the amount of valuable material and equipment present on site as well as because it involves frequent access to a high number of outside contractors.
Construction security involves a thorough threat analysis as well as risk assessment of the site and job at hand. Even though pre-planning can help sort out problems in advance, the threats need to be regularly re-assessed. In order to keep track of all risks, a risk register is often created. According to Security Industry Association (SIA), a risk register can be either
Raw Risk Register: A catalogue of the risks identified as being of concern, together with an assessment of their likelihood and impact before they have been addressed. This information forms the input to the analysis. For each risk a “Risk Appetite” is decided and then measures determined to mitigate the risk so that it is below the level of acceptable risk appetite.
Residual Risk Register: Details how the measures to mitigate the risks have reduced the perceived level of risk (hopefully below the “risk appetite”). This forms the output of the analysis.
Once the risks have been assessed and properly categorised in the Raw Risk Register, a mitigation is performed. This can be either Ignoring, Exporting or Addressing the risk at hand.
The information is then recorded in the Residual Risk Register.
The basic principles involved in any mitigation are:
- Deterrence
- Detection
- Delay
- Response
In accordance with the above principles, it is considered best to provide security at each layer with different roles performed at different levels and under different circumstances (or stages) of the construction project. Consider it as onion layers, with each one guarded by a different security protocol.
The layered security is complemented by a combined use of man and machine where electronic security equipments and security guards work together to provide a complete security blanket for the site.
Role of security guards at construction site
The primary role of security guards at any construction site involves patrolling, static guarding, checking personnel and vehicles before letting them in or out as well as responding to any security threat. They work closely with the site operator or manager.
The construction security guards need to be properly trained in handling the relevant security equipment as well as have a valid SIA licence when employed through an agency.
G3 security services provides specialist construction security personnel with considerable experience. For more information, contact us directly at 020 3288 0000 or 020 3288 0011.
To download SIA guide and construction security checklist, click here.
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