By James Grant

Some of the most frustrating ways to lose money on a job is to have expensive equipment stolen or vandalized. It can be both heartbreaking and infuriating to see your hard-earned cash taken away by opportunistic thieves – or worse – destroyed for another’s amusement.

Thankfully, there are several precautions contractors can take to secure their pricy tools, equipment, and materials on job sites to minimize this risk. Here are the top four according to Sensera Systems.

Secure On-Site Tools with Quality Locks and Mark Them

Although it might sound like common sense, locking up equipment left on site can vastly reduce the amount of revenue lost through theft. According to a study from www.senserasystems.com, tools represent 40% of all stolen items on sites.

According to that same study, securing these tools with quality locks in tamper-resistant containers is the most effective way to combat theft. The other suggestion from this study is for contractors to mark their tools in a permanent way.

This makes reselling said tools much more difficult for thieves since they’ll have to find someone willing to purchase stolen goods knowingly. And while the world of jewelry fences might be massive, construction equipment fences are far less common.

Circle Them Wagons…and anything expensive

One of the most surprising finds from Sensera Systems is that heavy equipment like bulldozers or backhoes are nine times more likely to be stolen than vandalized on a job site!

Common sense would suggest stealing a several-ton machine would be next to impossible, but given these objects high-value, thieves have devised ways to do just that. The most effective way to combat these vehicles’ theft is to strategically position them in a grid-lock fashion so that stealing the most expensive ones requires moving the rest.

If this sounds odd, consider any rural roadside construction site you’ve encountered. If the workers aren’t present, oftentimes the equipment is boxed in with earth or positioned in such a way as to make loading it onto a flatbed truck virtually impossible.

And if you were anything like me as a young kid growing up around construction, you know that every vehicle is locked or at least has its keys removed. Yes, this process adds time and thus money to a job, but think about replacing a $50,000 piece of equipment versus spending ten extra minutes at the end of the week to properly secure it.

Deploy Security Cameras on Site

While it may seem unthinkable to some, the reality is that a great deal of job site theft is done by employees. Certainly, 99% of these employees are good, honest workers – but that 1% can cost you thousands in the long run.

Multiple companies offer solar-powered security cameras with Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity that automatically alert foremen or managers to on-site activity after hours. The mere presence of these cameras will deter any thief who isn’t fully committed.

Install Motion Sensor Lighting

One of the most effective ways to prevent theft on job sites and in residential areas is proper illumination. Only the most brazen thieves will attempt to steal while lit up by 1,000-lumen floodlights against a dark backdrop.

These lights are inexpensive and, when combined with the security cameras mentioned above, can turn your next job site from a tempting target of opportunity into a nut too tough to crack. At the very least, they’ll make thieves and vandals think twice before trespassing on a site.