Like our scaffolding systems, Burflex Scaffolding is founded on quality, integrity and consistency. Our head office is based in Hull, we also have contact offices in Sheffield and Leeds.
Site managers need to make sure that their scaffolding is properly secure and well looked after, or you could come to work one day to find that scrap metal thieves have targeted your construction site and made off with it all… which has sadly just happened at Cave Castle Hotel and Country Club in South Cave in Hull.
According to the Hull Daily Mail, 38-year-old Sean Willars of Tower Hill Mews in Hessle made off with two pieces of scaffold from the country club and also stole £350 worth of scrap metal in North Ferriby. He was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £150 in compensation.
You might well think that because scaffolding is big, heavy and unwieldy that it wouldn’t prove to be an attractive prospect for thieves, but this is certainly not the case and it seems that not a day goes by that we don’t hear about scaffolding theft in the news in some part of the UK.
But there is quite a lot you can do to help put prospective scrap metal thieves off from targeting your construction site and making off with goods that can be expensive to replace. Firstly, make sure you have CCTV installed and visible signs warning people that they are on camera, as this is sure to be a very real deterrent.
Having security guards carrying out regular patrols will also keep your site safe, or you could consider having a guard dog somewhere on site as well – even the sound of barking might be enough to prevent people from accessing your site.
As for the scaffolding itself, you could consider applying some kind of traceable liquid security paint so that if something is stolen you stand a better chance of getting it back later down the line. Because scaffolding basically all looks alike, it can be hard to prove that it’s yours if it is recovered – but with this kind of security paint, you can prove without a doubt that it was taken from your site.
You might also want to consider investing in a scaffold alarm, which works by detecting movement or body heat, with an alarm going off in an alarm receiving centre. You can easily disarm the device when you have workers on site and then reset it once the working day is done.
Because it’s simply not practical to take your scaffolding down each day until the job is finished, you do need to think seriously about scaffolding security and theft, or you could come to work one day to find a particularly nasty surprise.
And don’t forget to prioritise training of staff members to help prevent thefts from occurring. They should know how to protect tools and materials during the week – and an equipment order sheet can really help you keep track of what equipment is where on site.
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