From thieves looking for valuable materials, to vandals who want to deface public property, off limit locations can be an attractive but dangerous foray for trespassers.
What are the Dangers of Trespassing?
Whether it’s an abandoned, structurally compromised building or an active construction site, when a person trespasses on a site they are not knowledgeable of, it can prove to be a dangerous mistake. Trespassers seek out these sites for a wide variety of reasons from squatting, theft, to general exploration. Unstable surfaces, walls, heavy equipment, and manmade ditches are just a few of the many hazards that can harm those who are unaware of their presence.
An example of a trespassing resulting in grievous injury happened in Toronto, Ontario, where a 41 year old man was found critically injured after being electrocuted in an off limits section of a hydroelectricity site(1). The man was quickly rushed to the hospital where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. In 2017 a 15 year old male was hospitalized while trespassing in an abandoned malting factory in Montreal, Quebec(2).
The teenager was exploring the building when the floor beneath him broke and he fell 5 feet, injuring his arms, leg, and collarbone(3). In these aforementioned instances, a properly implemented security system & procedures could have deterred these individuals from entering the respective sites, and thus preventing their injury.
Not only is it important to keep your site secure from trespassing to prevent injury, but it is also important to protect your company from being held liable for any injury that occurs on your site. Whether they’re supposed to be there or not, you are responsible for implementing the proper preventative measures for ensuring the safety of each and every person on your site(4).
Luckily, nobody was injured during the fire, and the building suffered only superficial damage to the interior and exterior. Construction site theft has also become a major threat in Canada due to the rise of material prices, such as lumber.
How do we keep your sites secure from trespassers?
To keep your sites secure from trespassers, we deploy our multi-leveled approach to security. On the first line of defense, we deploy anti-trespassing and video surveillance warning signage, which is designed as an early deterrence of trespassers by warning them that they are trespassing an off limits site that is being live monitored. If the trespasser is not deterred from entering the site, our industry leading security devices, which are equipped with high resolution stationary and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras are live monitored from our UL Certified facility to prevent further disruption.
These cameras are strategically placed to view the perimeter and access points of the site. Once a trespasser is detected, our video monitoring operators utilize our highly effective security peripherals to deter the individual. Voice commands from our live communication speakers are issued as a way to warn the suspect that they are on an off limits site that is being monitored, and that any criminal behavior will be reported to the police.
For a visual deterrence, our operators utilize our blue LED deterrence strobe light. Additionally, if law enforcement is dispatched, our strobe light is used as a beacon, revealing the location of the suspect. Our highly skilled video monitoring operators work alongside Law Enforcement, when required. Our team provides them with critical details such as suspect description, location, and behavior, and will continue to gather as much details as possible to further assist local law enforcement, and provide evidence for any subsequent court proceedings.
Once the incident is contained, an in-depth report is logged into our security information reporting platform, syncroReports. This platform is your teams’ access point to your site security information, and provides in-depth reports, robust analytics, and even live video feeds.
What Additional Steps Can Be Taken?
For an additional level of security, we deploy our wireless intrusion alarm device, syncroDetect. This devices can be equipped with both wireless door & window contact sensors, and wireless motion detection sensors.
These sensors are strategically placed on areas of importance such as building entry points, heavy machinery, site trailers, and equipment lockers.
When one of these sensors are tripped, an alert immediately goes to our monitoring center, where our operators will utilize our security cameras to gain a visual on the area on concern.
From there, they will utilize our various peripherals to deter the suspect and if necessary contact local law enforcement.
Overall, without implementing the proper security measures to deter trespassers from your site, you may face the impact of theft & vandalism, and can ultimately be held liable for any injury that occurs.
References:
- 1. “Toronto man dies after being electrocuted at hydro transformer” CBC News, N/A, Sep 30th, 2017
- 2,3. “Teenager hurt falling in abandoned building” CTV News, CTV Montreal, July 21st, 2017
- 4. “Attractive Nuisances on Construction Sites” The Safegard Group Inc, Michael Hermansen, August 7th, 2018
- 5. “Cigarette discarded in bucket of tar ‘believed’ to have started Chorley construction fire” Lancashire Telegraphy, Amy Farnworth, September 30th, 2021
- 6,7. “Vancouver police warn of construction thefts amid rising lumber prices” GlobalNews, Jon Azpiri, May 19th, 2021