Deploying mobile video surveillance cameras for security and asset protection at construction jobsites and compounds, either in place of or working alongside security patrols, offers several benefits.
These include significant cost-savings, installation speed, state-of-the-art quality, convenience, and peace of mind that a mobile surveillance camera is providing 24/7 protection of your sites.
Why Construction Jobsites Require Security?
From valuable materials and machinery to their vast size creating access weak spots, there are various contributing factors that make construction jobsites vulnerable to crime, especially theft.
With construction theft leading to an estimated direct loss of around $1 billion annually, jobsites continue to battle the harsh reality of facing crime as a business.
And this figure is just a drop in the ocean of the financial consequences of construction crime. Project delays, penalties, replacement and repair fees, and business reputation cause further costs to your business.
Construction firms and projects cannot afford losses of this level, and with growing focus on construction, the expectations are tighter than ever to complete on schedule.
Copper theft, protest vandalism, and Organized Crime Groups threaten the future of success for construction, making security central to you as construction firm owners and project managers.
Securing your construction jobsite is the only effective step you can take to prevent crime, capture incidents, and avoid costly project delays.
How Mobile Surveillance Benefits Construction Jobsite Security
Mobile surveillance solutions such as Pole Cameras and Surveillance Trailers are becoming a critical layer of defense for construction jobsites of all sizes.
Compared to fixed systems, mobile surveillance solutions offer flexibility, rapid deployment, and full visibility across challenging environments like construction jobsites.
Risks can shift daily, especially on developing jobsites that don’t remain static throughout the full project.
Systems like ours are specifically designed to deter theft, monitor safety, and provide real-time insights into your site at all times of day.
Below, we outline the key benefits associated with mobile surveillance solutions when used for real estate, commercial and residential construction jobsites, freight yards, rail yards, and remote sites.
Cost Savings Without Compromising Jobsite Security
Traditional methods of surveillance like security guards can be costly for construction jobsites, even if they were to only cover out-of-hours times.
Typically, an unarmed guard will cost between $15 - $30 per hour (depending on the state), with an armed guard costing between $45 -$60 per hour (figures from Thumbtack).
These hourly rates do not factor the need for multiple guards most jobsites require, as well as the training, vetting, vehicles, and rest facilities required for them to effectively carry out their job.
With public holiday premium rates only pushing costs even further.
If one construction jobsites were to switch to mobile surveillance cameras for their site security from guards, systems could save up to 88% in security costs from this change alone.
However, you may be left questioning quality when you’re making savings like this, but with effective solutions like our Surveillance Trailer, you won’t be left compromising on this and will likely increase the effectiveness of your site’s security.
Additionally, certain suppliers like ourselves offer Surveillance Trailers and Pole Cameras on a rental basis. This allows you to match the length of your security to the exact length of your project.
Therefore, you’re only spending for the time you require, no expensive long-term contracts that extend past a jobsite’s project length.
AI Video Analytics for Increased Threat Accuracy
False alarms can significantly impact your jobsite’s security, but also your responsibilities in managing your construction portfolio.
Mobile surveillance solutions provide increased threat accuracy and detailed oversight of your site wherever you are.
Compared to security guards who face human and job limitations like poor visibility, lateness to an incident, and tiredness.
Many surveillance cameras now incorporate AI-driven technology that no longer leaves this room for error.
The introduction of advanced capabilities has transformed threat detection, with AI video analytics able to clearly establish the difference between moving vegetation or an animal to a genuine threat.
Additionally, it can track behavior to establish any threatening or abnormal attitudes like loitering, allowing for early, accurate threat detection.
This includes being able to identify threats in poor conditions like cold weather and dark nights.
With the support of infrared and thermal imaging, AI-video analytics allow cameras to capture threatening behavior, the human eye wouldn’t be able to capture easily.
Expanded, High-Quality Jobsite Coverage
Generally, surveillance cameras have a wider view on jobsites compared to traditional methods.
Carefully designed to proactively identify intrusion across your full site, including blind spots and weak access points, mobile surveillance provides constant monitoring.
This helps to stop thieves, vandals, and any would-be criminals in their tracks before they even reach your jobsite.
Mobile surveillance cameras remove the reliance on trusting security personnel's alertness, motivation, and ability. With no risks of having lapses in judgement or attention.
From a technology perspective, Solar Surveillance Trailers, fitted with Mini Dome Cameras, represent the next generation of autonomous construction site security in terms of convenience, flexibility, and quality.
The Mini Dome Solar Trailer is a solar-powered mobile video surveillance system that can be rapidly deployed at practically any location, providing security for remote sites, short-term events, or off-grid locations on a temporary or permanent basis.
The trailer is fitted with up to 4 of pole cameras designed to deliver live and recorded video securely and efficiently via 4G LTE networks.
The units are extremely power efficient, meaning they can do more with less power. They don't rely on gas generators, removing the need to refuel or maintain in the field – this also offers a heavy cost reduction, which WCCTV passes on to its clients.
Live and recorded footage can be accessed via 4G LTE connectivity, allowing users to remotely view and download the video at any time from any device.
From a technology perspective, Surveillance Trailers with Mini Dome Cameras represent the next generation of autonomous construction site security in terms of convenience, flexibility, and quality.
These units can be fitted with up to 4 pole cameras to provide full site coverage whilst efficiently delivering live and recorded video via secure 5G/4G LTE networks.
Their PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) capabilities, infrared, and thermal imaging cameras allow systems to capture high-quality evidence of incidents and near-incidents at their best angle.
This means footage from these cameras can be utilized in any legal proceedings, helping to strengthen any criminal case you have against those captured.
Visual and Audio Deterrents for Proactive Prevention on Jobsites
Physical security plays a large role in preventing would-be criminals from targeting your jobsites.
Although manned guarding offers this, mobile surveillance has been developed to provide physical security that goes beyond the human presence.
Solutions like our Solar Surveillance Trailer stand up to 20ft high, providing an unmistakable visual deterrent to any unauthorized persons and are proven to prevent criminal activity.
Audio features including, live voice-down audio challenges, sirens, and blue light alarms help to transform it from just a visual deterrent to a proactive prevention surveillance system.
To activate these features, once the built-in video analytics detects a criminal, a remote operator can automatically trigger these to warn the criminal(s) they are being recorded.
See how this works for yourself:
Remote Responses to Construction Crime
It’s often suggested that a benefit of using security guards is that they can intervene and prevent a robbery from occurring should they discover an intruder on-site.
However, in most cases, security guards are trained not to approach a potential intruder for safety concerns. Options, therefore, become very limited.
Usually, in such instances, security guards ensure their own safety before calling out Law Enforcement.
Whereas, mobile surveillance solutions can respond to crime instantly through the use of remote monitoring services.
This involves trained security professionals monitoring live video feed of your jobsite and identifying threats, which following this, will be responded to in real-time through the available prevention tools included within that system.
Essentially, this turns your cameras into virtual security guards, performing all the same functions as an in-person one, but with the added benefit of being more cost-effective, covering larger areas, and gathering evidential footage without putting someone in harm's way.
Flexible to Your Jobsite’s Developing Security Needs
Mobile surveillance solutions can be installed in a matter of minutes, not days.
Surveillance Trailers in particular are both easy-to-install and relocate. Their trailer design allows you to move them around your jobsite with ease, supporting any developing site or emerging/new threats.
This makes them the ideal surveillance solution for construction jobsite security due to the minimal operational disruption and flexibility to changing surveillance needs.
Being completely autonomous, this means, essentially, no location is out of bounds, ensuring even blind spots and remote locations remain protected.
Increased Worker Safety
One major benefit of mobile surveillance cameras is that they can provide project overview footage and assist with health and safety applications.
Thousands of workplace accidents occur every year at construction jobsites, some fatal, and as firm owners and project managers, it’s your responsibility to maintain work’s safety.
It’s also important that for business protection that you have security in place to mitigate workplace risks and liability as claims can become costly expenses in the short- and long-term.
Mobile surveillance cameras provide a 24/7 video feed, and this can be used for you to gain real-time insights to react upon. This allows you to do the following:
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Conduct remote site audits
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Review working procedures remotely and/or retrospectively
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Manage site access (vehicles/pedestrians)
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Manage access across site boundaries
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Issue audio alerts
In the long-term, it allows senior management to improve onsite health and safety by identifying risks and hazards without needing site visits.
Customizable Camera Add-Ons and Integrations
Another benefit specific to our mobile surveillance solutions at your jobsites is that all of our systems offer additional tools like Time Lapse, LPR Cameras, environmental sensors, and smart detection systems alongside them.
These allow you to customize your cameras and the coverage you receive.
We understand that using multiple suppliers makes management difficult at times, but with rules and regulations, you need to have particular measures in place to run effectively.
Our in-house platform, Stellifii provides exactly that. Placing environmental monitoring, reporting, intrusion detection, LPR, and other key smart features into one space for you to use.
This minimizes the number of platforms you need to use, streamlining your workload and saving you money in the process.
Time Lapse Video Cameras can also help win new business, celebrate your teams' successes, and get key stakeholder engagement for your projects.
Check out a recent project or ours:
The benefits outlined above are just a selection of the benefits of using mobile surveillance cameras for construction jobsite security.
Key to all of the above is understanding systems' objectives, capabilities, and limitations, appropriate equipment selection, and using it as part of best practices for securing your sites.
We’d always recommend a blended approach to security while promoting the power of mobile video surveillance. This means incorporating additional measures like:
- Install lighting
- Store materials, equipment, and machinery in a secure unit
- Add full site perimeter fencing
- Have signage placed around the site
- Implement access control measures
By implementing various methods, your jobsite will be able to effectively deter crime, intercept incidents in real time, and capture footage for supporting evidence in any criminal cases.
Managed Security Cameras for Construction Jobsites
WCCTV is the USA's top supplier of mobile surveillance cameras for construction jobsites.
We provide market-leading security cameras backed by a fully-managed service that includes equipment installation, video monitoring, maintenance, ongoing technical support, and decommissioning.
Our rapid deployment cameras provide construction jobsites with multi-application benefits, including security, Time Lapse Video filming, and remote project management.
So whether you’re a project manager with multiple jobsites or a manager of a singular project in a remote location, our solutions offer flexible, high-quality systems that effectively manage your needs.
Contact us today and speak to one of our construction jobsite security experts.
