Discover why a sign-in system is vital to construction site security and safety.
Effectively managing a construction site can be a task that’s fraught with potential risks to safety and security. The number of people of people and items of valuable hardware that are on site at any one time on a construction site can pose significant risks to security and safety.
Most construction site and project managers are aware of the need to make their site more secure but aren’t quite sure how to go about doing so. Another concern is that improving site security may involve cultural, financial or managerial strain being put on the project.
So, how do you improve construction site security quickly and simply? Let’s explore some of the key steps in making sure your construction site security is the best it can be.
Invest in security technology
It can be easy to simply hope for the best case scenario and not invest in security technology, but that leaves you unprepared if the worst was to occur. With a large amount of valuable equipment that is often found construction sites, it’s essential that you invest in technology that will help you keep it safe and secure.
CCTV: keeping track of your site via security cameras is vital to ensuring your construction site is secure. Not only do security cameras allow you to keep track of who is coming onto site and identifying anyone who is not authorised to be on the premises, they also provide you with a digital record of everything going on throughout the site that can be referred to quickly and easily.
Access control: investing in access control technology is essential to construction site security, especially if valuable equipment is left on site overnight. Access control systems allow staff members to use an access card of the key fob to scan onto the premises. These cards and fobs are only given to authorised personnel, so you can ensure that only those you know and trust have access to the site.
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Looking to integrate access control and visitor management? Discover how in our blog on integrating access control with visitor management technology.
Assign a supervisor
As effective as security technology is to improving construction site security and safety, it’s also essential to have experienced, trustworthy staff members on site to supervise the premises and the project at hand. Supervisors serve a multitude of security purposes on a construction site, including:
- Overseeing the site as a whole, and ensuring every member of staff is appropriately qualified for their role and up-to-speed on the necessary health & safety and security policies.
- Site inspections, to identify any potential security flaws and risks and to plan a course of action to resolve them.
- Training on new security procedures and technologies.
- Producing site reports and keeping detailed records of all activity on site.
When deciding on who should oversee the project it’s a good idea to keep in mind that, depending on the size of the project at hand, assigning multiple supervisors may be required.
Identify and track assets
Assets on a construction site can be worth tens of thousands, so it’s essential that you keep track of everything on site in an inventory. The scale and nature of your inventory varies depending on the size of your construction site/project. It may suffice for your project to keep track of your assets using a spreadsheet, or it may be necessary to use a dedicated inventory management platform. Xero is a particularly useful platform to manage your inventory online from any device from a browser.
Inventory management is vital as it allows you to easily keep track of every item on site and see at a glance if anything is unaccounted for.
Analyse the risks
An essential part of improving construction site security is carrying out a detailed assessment of all of the potential risks that could occur. While it’s impossible to plan for every single eventuality, you can mitigate a huge amount of potential dangers by carrying out a risk assessment. Conducting a risk analysis will help you determine:
- Whether potential security risks will need to be dealt with in-house or externally.
- The solutions that will need to be implemented in order to mitigate security risks on site.
- The actions that need to be carried out in the event of security breaches of different levels.
It is also vital that you regularly update your risk assessments to identify new potential risk factors on site.
Keep track of who’s on site
A great way of ensuring your construction site is as secure as possible is to keep track of everyone coming in and out of the premises each day. This allows you to ensure that no unauthorised personnel are coming on to the site when they shouldn’t be.
This is an essential part of construction site security, but how do you do this effectively and efficiently? One great way is to use a sign-in system. This self-service solution allows staff, visitors, contractors and more to sign in to the site quickly and easily. Not only does this mean their day won’t be interrupted by lengthy sign-in procedures, it also allows you to keep track of their time spent on site.
Furthermore, you can add induction and screening questions to the sign-in process in order to ensure that everyone coming on site has the necessary permissions, knowledge and qualifications to carry out their role.
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Looking for a sign-in solution to take your construction site security to the next level? VisiPoint is the ideal solution! With its easy and customisable sign-in process, you can induct and sign in staff, contractors, visitors and more in no time.
For a free, no-pressure consultation on a VisiPoint visitor management solution, contact a member of our expert team on 0191 341 0016 or using the form below.