How Contractors Can Prevent Jobsite Theft

According to the National Equipment Register, Approximately 300 million to 1 billion dollars in jobsite equipment is stolen each year and only 25% of that is likely to be returned. As a contractor, it’s easy to feel like your optics will always have a blind spot, but in reality it may just require necessary adjustments in your operations to secure your business’ bottom line.

What’s the first step, you ask? Take inventory of your equipment, large and small. It’s important to know exactly how many assets you have and how much they are worth before deciding to make a financial decision on security. Remember that smaller equipment, although less expensive, is much more likely to be lost or stolen in an attempt for resale. Having Logos on all of your equipment is a cost-effective way to slow the resale of stolen equipment and increase the return of your company’s items. Once you have your inventory up to date, it will be easier to make a decision on your overall security solutions for your jobsite. 

It’s never easy to blindly spend money on security that will never return an investment. However, it’s a lot less painful to front money at the beginning of your jobsite to ensure that your security is high, rather than double your equipment cost in repurchases. There are various budgeted options for both sales and rental security measures like jobsite camera solutions, access control solutions and security trailers. With Rental equipment, the commitment is temporary and the overhead is less. 

Another important technique for preventing loss is the implementation of equipment reporting for all jobsite workers. Something that starts at the bottom and can be seen as a hassle for your employees can tremendously impact the entire project’s security. It can be hard to implement change if people are unwilling, but a good idea might be to incentivize teams with something so that the importance of reporting stays high. No one likes to point fingers, but when items go missing in thin air, it’s usually someone around the site and comfortable around equipment. In this case, reporting keeps accountability high amongst everyone on the project and improves your optics in an area you are probably going at blind.