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Hauliers have have enough on their plates without having to

18th January 2001
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

contend with thieves but the wise operator will invest in the right gear to outwit the

rriminals Steve Banner ooks at the security equipment and services on offer. ...

creeping around creeping around

The last thing a thief your yard at dead of night wants to hear—other than the wail of police sirens—is a voice bellowing "You in the black mask; you're on camera, so drop your bag of swag!" But that's exactly what can happen if a haulier links up with Security Monitoring Centres, which monitors closed-circuit television systems in business premises around the country from a control room in Gloucester. If intruders trigger an alarm the TV cameras start rolling, SMC's personnel are alerted, and they can see exactly what is happening.

"The screen will show the image that caused the alarm, the scene a second later, the scene two seconds later, and what's happening now," explains general manager Colin Walters. "We can also move from one camera to another to see what's going on around the site.

Public address

-If we spot people who shouldn't be there, then we can warn them over the site's public address system that we can see them, and that the police have been called," he says. "We can also let the key holder know what's happening, and inform the security company if the customer uses one.

"Whatever the camera sees is stored digitally, and can subsequently be used in court as evidence," Walters explains.

SMC will monitor six cameras at your depot for prices starting at £1,300 a year. "Four or five static cameras will cost you £8,000 to Lio,000 to buy and install," says Walters. "If you want cameras that can be swivelled around electronically, you'll be talking in terms of around L14,000 to L15,000."

Sensormatic specialises in providing high-tech automatic cameras that can be linked to alarms protecting a depot's perimeter, and to a monitoring station by means of an ISDN2 line. Its Ultradome camera pro

vides moving colour images, and can magnify them up to 176 times, according to Russell Hayman, a national account manager with the firm.

"The premises have to be well lit for the cameras to work properly at night, although the lighting doesn't have to be excessively bright," he says.

However, hauliers on a tight budget who can't afford security cameras and monitoring can still do a lot to deter thieves without spending a fortune, says Maurice Parsons, general secretary of the Association of Security Consultants,

Tight control

Fitting good quality locks and bolts makes sound sense, he advises, as does ensuring that you keep tight control of who has keys to the site. "You cannot afford to have a situation where you have hundreds of keys in circulation that can easily end up in the hands of criminals," he says.

Putting bars on accessible windows is another popular measure, but creating a prison-like atmosphere is unlikely to do much for employee morale. "What you can do instead is opt for white security grilles that can be slid across," Parsons suggests.

"You should also install gates that cannot be lifted off their hinges—electrically controlled gates that slide across the entrance are a possibility if you can afford them—and palisade fencing," he continues.

Razor wire

Topping perimeter fencing with razor wire is worth considering, he adds, but it must be positioned on the inside of the fence so that innocent passers-by cannot accidentally touch it, and high enough that it won't injure your employees.

Palisade fencing 2.4m high starts at around £6o or ko a metre, including installation. An electric gate will set you back £2,000 tO L3, 000

Lighting that ensures there are as few shadowy areas as possible is a good deterrent, says Parsons, although he's person ally not particularly keen on lights that are switched on and off by movement sensors.

In theory they should warn people that there's somebody wandering about who shouldn't be. "After a while, however, they can get ignored, and they can be expensive to run," Parsons contends. "Because the bulbs are going on and off all the time, they have a short life and have to be replaced continually.

"Sometimes nobody bothers to do so, which means that the security lighting becomes progressively less effective. Proper maintenance of everything that's security related is very important, and that includes fixing gates that don't hang right, and doors that won't shut properly."

Your depot buildings can be protected by an intruder alarm triggered by a combination of movement detectors, glass breakage sensors on the windows and vibration sensors on the doorframes. These installations start at about £1,500.

Phone lino

Don't bother with an alarm that rings but isn't connected to a monitoring station. If you can't afford to link it with cameras, then it's worth having it connected by phone line to British Telecom's RedCARE service.

This will record the fact that the alarm has gone off, and the key holder or security firm can be alerted. They can then visit the premises, and inform the police if there has been a break-in.

A security company will charge roughly £400 a year for providing this call-out service, and can also act as a key holder if the haulier so wishes.

Thieves often casually wander into premises during the day if they spot an unprotected gate. Electronic access control, which means nobody can open a door or raise a barrier without a swipe card, will prevent this happening.

This technology costs goo to £1,000 per entrance.

Having a guard on the premises 24 hours a day is an

effective option but at a typical £50,000 to £60,000 a year, it's a pricey one. Chubb Security Personnel is one company that can provide uniformed security people, and will arrange for them to visit the premises at random times during the night if you don't require a full-time presence.

How much this costs depends on whether you wish the guard to carry out an external inspection of the site, or enter it and check all the doors and windows. It will be a fraction of the price of permanent manning, however.

Good guide

A parliamentary bill is now being drafted that will mean that security companies will have to be registered. In the meantime membership of the British Security Industry Association is a good starting point.

So is compliance with BS7499 (which covers on-site security and emergency response) and BS7858 (which covers the screening of employees).

After all, the last thing you want is to end up hiring a security company which turns out to be staffed by shaven headed, tattooed thugs who've just been released from Wormwood Scrubs.


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