Masonry Magazine August 2006 Page. 23
Contractors Must Protect Equipment from Theft
Contractors must protect their equipment from theft. It's important to take precautions to prevent theft of equipment from job sites. Contractors should be aware of their surroundings and take steps to protect their equipment.
"You've got to be aware of your surroundings," said Lt. Robert Bray of the Construction and Trucking Task Force in Sacramento, Calif. "Be aware of the businesses and residences when starting work in a new neighborhood."
"You've got to promote yourself," he said. "It's just good P.R."
Contractors also have to do their homework. If they know a job is located in a high crime area, they need to add security measures to the cost of the project, he said.
Technology for the Good Guys
CONTRACTORS can further protect their equipment by putting technology on their side. High-tech-but in most cases, low-cost-protection and recovery systems are now available to deter thieves and track stolen equipment.
The Hilti Corporation in Tulsa, Okla, sells a system that requires a key to activate a tool. Project Manager David Crawford said an employee is given a key, which is typically worn on the belt, to operate the tool. Without the key, the tool is useless, which makes it less attractive to thieves. A label identifies the tools as being protected.
"Only authorized users can use the tool. There's no way to modify the tool to make it work because it's electronically integrated," Crawford said. "You can use the tool and have the protection day and night."
It will also discourage internal stealing, he said. If an employee reports a tool missing, the contractor can then ask for the key, which the employee should always have in his or her possession.
"It transfers the ownership of the tool to the employee," Crawford said. "You can't sell the tool locked, so it makes stealing the tool useless."
In February 2005, DEWALT hit the market with SiteLock, a portable, wireless alarm system. With a base price of $1,100 and additional sensors extra, a typical system that will cover an entire job site, including trailer, costs $2,000 to $3,000, plus a $40 monthly monitoring fee, said Bill Pugh, director of DEWALT's marketing. If someone enters the secured site, the alarm activates and sends a signal to a monitoring service.
"We've got a good product that's ideal for the construction industry in helping them protect their investment," Pugh said. Also, SiteLock can be moved from one job site to the next.
With the Lolack system by the LoJack Corporation in Westwood, Mass, even if equipment is stolen, all is not lost. After achieving success with cars and trucks, Lojack introduced a version in 2001 for heavy-duty construction equipment-again meeting with success. Lolack has a 90 percent recovery rate for stolen vehicles and equipment, said Paul McMahon, director of corporate communications.
Lojack uses in-vehicle tracking equipment that emits a signal, integrated into law enforcement agencies across the country, to recover stolen equipment. It costs $795 and is good for the life of the equipment.
"We focus on one thing-that's stolen equipment recovery," McMahon said.
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