By Chris Rust, MD Orchard Fencing (Chris Rust Ltd)
Previously I wasn’t convinced that electric security fence systems were right for us – but in this article I’ll explain why I changed my mind.
If you want to do more to protect your site (especially if you’re having trouble with break-ins or theft) and are wondering whether these systems could be right for you, then the following observations may be useful. If you have any questions, then get in touch as I’d be happy to help.
Background
Over the years my company has installed most different kinds of perimeter fence products and secured a variety of different sites across the South and West of the UK. In the past we always concentrated on physical protection and had never worked with electric fences (or ‘electrified’ systems).
Partly I was worried about legal questions (safety, liability etc). Partly I wasn’t sure how well they actually worked (expensive to run? hard to maintain? easy to overcome?).
But really the biggest reason was that I just assumed they just weren’t for us. I’d seen some installations (at sites like utilities) but thought they were fairly specialist and also guessed that they must be expensive to run and maintain.
I couldn’t have been more wrong: electric security fences are safe, they do work brilliantly, they’re economical and I’ve discovered that they’re being installed quite widely in very ‘ordinary’ areas (industrial estates, storage yards, even town centres).
After looking into how electrified perimeters work, and talking to users about their benefits and drawbacks, I realised that this is a solution Orchard Fencing should be offering. I took the decision that my company should become an accredited dealer for the best electric fence technology (in my view) currently available, the PulseSecure system which is made in the UK by Harper Chalice.
‘This technology is about as friendly as a wasp!’
Summarised below are the essential facts that changed my mind about electric security fences and the PulseSecure in particular. Here are the points I think worth considering:
1) Safety & legality – this is the first myth to dispel. There is absolutely no question about the safety of electric security fences and there are well-established legal precedents to prove it. These systems certainly hurt if you touch them but in fact they use no more power than the classic agricultural ‘cattle’ fence which is a familiar site across the countryside.
Indeed, despite the similar energy output, much more stringent safety standards apply to the deployment of electric security fences. For example, they must be installed in such a way that people cannot accidentally touch them and there must be clear warning signs at correct intervals along the length of the fence.
The PulseSecure system is approved under the police ‘Secured by Design’ scheme, has been tested by the government and is recommended by insurers. If you want the ultimate proof of acceptability, it was even used extensively at the London 2012 Olympic Park.
2) Stopping crime. Yes electric security fences do work, and they can do things that physical fences on their own can’t. They tend to save their owners a lot of money by a) eliminating losses (even where sites have a long history of theft) and b) replacing less effective and more costly security measures. The great strength of electric fences is that they hit back, they hurt the criminals and they really get them to back-off. (It’s no co-incidence that the warning signs are black and yellow, the same colour as a wasp, because when you touch the wires they’re about as friendly!) Fences on their own may be physically strong but they don’t have this effect.
Detection of intrusion attempts is another important feature. Not all systems work as well as the PulseSecure (no others were rated as highly in official government tests), so my comments here are confined to the system my company installs. If an intruder tries to disable the system by cutting or tampering with it, an immediate and credible alarm is triggered (note an alarm is not triggered when the wires are simply touched, and false alarms generally are exceptionally rare with PulseSecure).
3) Maintenance and cost. As with any technology, an electric security fence does need looking after once it’s installed – but if it’s a PulseSecure system it will need nothing more than the ‘good housekeeping’ of making sure the fence-line is free of undergrowth or accumulated litter. Dare I say that for higher risk sites this is the sort of good practice you should be following anyway? I have heard of other systems failing (or being switched off by their owners in despair) because of nuisance alarms but this doesn’t happen with PulseSecure. PulseSecure has been tested extensively and is installed in rough weather locations (including coastal sites) for government-level users. Put simply, it works and it keeps working, rain, shine, wind or snow; once installed it costs very little to operate and gives long, maintenance-free performance.
The other point to note about cost is, as I stated above, users can potentially make quite big savings if they are currently relying on other security measures such as on-site guards.
One more interesting advantage to note: some businesses find their customers respond very well to the fact that they’ve invested in obviously ‘high tech’ security, and they win more contracts as a result. Two examples spring to mind – a vehicle storage company and a data-storage centre recently both reported increased business as a direct result of their investments in PulseSecure protection. There is a recognition that these systems represent security on a higher level than just alarms or CCTV.
4) One final point, from a fencing installers perspective, is that although the PulseSecure is ‘formidable’ it actually doesn’t look forbidding or oppressive. This can be an advantage in locations where planning is an issue. Compared with a long coil of razor-wire or an elaborate spiked topping system, it’s actually quite neat and inconspicuous.
The points above are just some of the factors that persuaded me and I hope they answer doubts that you may have.
So should you take the next step and find out more about electrified fencing? I’d say yes if you want to really keep intruders out, if you don’t want to incur high on-going costs and if you want a perimeter that fully protects your site (fence or building) 24/7. Give me a call if you want to see a demonstration.
http://www.orchardfencing.com/
