Heavy equipment can be the target of theft.
Heavy equipment is expensive to purchase and to maintain. It is also expensive to replace, and the theft of heavy equipment wreaks havoc on construction schedules and budgets. This makes protection of heavy equipment from theft a high priority.
Instructions
Security
1. Secure loose equipment at risk of being carried off with chains or cables. Store larger pieces of heavy equipment behind locked enclosures, be it a fence or a room with a steel cage.
2. Make heavy equipment nonfunctional to make it more difficult to steal. According to Douglas Gransberg in the book Construction Equipment Management for Engineers, Estimators, and Owners, this can involve disconnecting battery terminals, removing the wheels, or disabling the fuel system.
3. Remove trailer hitches to prevent heavy equipment on trailers being hauled away.
Monitoring
4. Keep watch over the work site or heavy equipment storage area at night and on weekends. Theft of heavy equipment is more likely to occur at night.
5. Employ a tool room attendant. He can monitor the tool room or tool crib to track tools as they are assigned during work shifts and can act as a watchman at night.
6. Have a crime prevention program in place. Train employees check in and check out heavy equipment and report lost or stolen items. Let those who work with the tools become the first line of defense.
Prevention
7. Have identification markings or identification labels, such as radio frequency identification tags on the heavy equipment. This can help locate it when misplaced and confirm ownership if the heavy equipment is found somewhere off the premises.
8. Register heavy equipment with the Associated General Contractors of America or AGC, or the National Equipment Registry or NER. The book Construction Equipment Management for Engineers, Estimators, and Owners says these agencies then notify law enforcement as well as heavy equipment rental agencies in the area to look out for heavy equipment with identification numbers of the stolen items.
9. Provide a means for employees to report suspected theft of heavy equipment anonymously to protect against repercussions by co-workers.
Verification
10. Run periodic heavy equipment inventories so that theft of heavy equipment is quickly realized.
11. Perform spot inspections to ensure that heavy equipment check in and check out procedures are followed.
12. Check heavy equipment to ensure that identification markers are easily readable.
Tips Warnings
Report stolen heavy equipment to law enforcement. When heavy equipment is stolen, report the theft to the Associated General Contractors of America or AGC, or the National Equipment Registry or NER.
You can buy tool theft insurance to cover the cost of stolen items, preventing the theft of heavy equipment from destroying a project's budget.
