Biometrics technology has delivered cost gains by verifying staff and cutting fraud.
Biometrics technology has delivered cost gains by verifying staff and cutting fraud for a construction company, the CCTV User Group conference heard. Brian Morris, Head of Security for the O’Rourke Group for the last two years, is a former Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent and was head of the Flying Squad in 1998-9. He told the conference how his deputy chairman gave him the simple task: ‘find out who is ripping me off’. Past and present O’Rourke construction sites include Bluewater Park in Kent, Canary Wharf and the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Traditional punch cards used by site staff to clock on and off always have the potential for abuse, Brian Morris said, even with part- or full-time time-keepers. At worst, staff can collude in setting up ‘ghost workers’ or ‘dead men’ and collecting their pay. Or, mates or security guards (as a favour or for a fiver) can clock men on and off so that they are paid for hours they are not working. It is possible for managers and time-keepers to mount an operation whereby they check every man on a site. But it’s no fun and time-consuming. (One such operation in the rain, Brian Morris recalled to the conference, made him think along the lines – ‘after 30 years in the Met – why here”.) CCTV alone merely records a ‘rugby scrum’ of men at clocking out time, and evidence of men clocking others out besides themselves. Viewing videotapes is time-consuming. O’Rourke across the company has an initiative called MOVE – Management and Operation with Vision and Efficiency – against a background of an industry-wide shortage of labour and a need to cut out waste. Brian Morris said: ‘Frequently I was going to sites and managers suspected something was going on and were carrying out spot-checks on the clock and finding things were wrong. But a weak point was the clock.’ Hence the firm installed Aurora’s Identica system, whereby workers are enrolled on the system and their images stored on a database. Each time an employee reports for work, or leaves, he has to go into a booth, like a passport-photo booth. This box has a keypad for workers to input their identification number. The software looks for a facial match between the face in the booth and the database. If there is a match, the transaction is accepted; if not, the clocking-on or off is void. The system – the biometrics and the cabin built for the construction firm’s requirements – were trialled for 15 months at head office in Essex. Up to 120 workers were operating the facial recognition clock-on system without difficulty. On a board decision, the equipment was rolled out to major projects, such as the Bull Ring in central Birmingham. The ‘Aurora cabin’, a windowless, insulated, steel container, has its IT equipment in a secure cupboard. The booth needs consistent lighting for the facial recognition software. Brian Morris spoke of how the Bull Ring cabin was alarmed, had a lock on the door, and was covered by CCTV. However when the alarm was not switched on and the door not locked, the CCTV system captured images of burglars first trying and then succeeding to steal the equipment in the booth. As Brian Morris put it, that burglary led to a rapid reassessment of the risk on the site. The burglars were arrested, he reported. The facial recognition offers long-term, added value to projects, he added. Not only does the Aurora system prevent fraud, but it improves site efficiency overall through better payroll management. Brian Morris’ conclusion: replacing manned guarding with effective technology is the way forward.
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Quad bikes are the security officer’s vehicle of choice at the University of Hertfordshire, revealed Erez Sharoni, Head of Security at the Hatfield-based institution. Erez joined Herts in 1996, after a career in the Israeli Army, and aviation security in Israel. On his arrival, the university did not have any cameras. An initial security survey found that some of the contract manned guarding was of poor quality. Hence the university set up Unisecure, its own security company, one of many run by commercially-minded Herts. Unisecure, accredited by the ISI to ISO 9002, has some 60 guards, and carries out guarding, mobile patrols, and remote monitoring. Unisecure offers career progression from security officer to senior security officer, assistant shift superviser and shift superviser. Hence annual turnover of staff is only six per cent, a fraction of outside guarding companies’ turnover. Herts saves therefore on recruitment and vetting costs, Erez Sharoni added. Unisecure’s technical arm specifies CCTV, intruder alarms, and ID cards for outside clients, and smart cards, whether for time and attendance or for meal payments. Hertfordshire Police are undermanned and response times, even to 999 calls, are not ideal. Sometimes more security officers are on patrol at Herts than police are on patrol in the local division, he said.
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About the campus
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On the main campus, linked by a fibre optic network, are 96 colour cameras: most are static, some are domes. Recording is 24-hour. ‘We found out that one control room is not sufficient, so we built what we call view centres.’ For instance, at a gatehouse staff have a keyboard and monitor. Thus the campus CCTV can be monitored even if the main control room had to be evacuated. Herts is looking to build another campus, without a perimeter fence; hence there is a need for more than 75 dome cameras and intruder detection devices. Good lighting is essential, he said – it deters criminals and works with CCTV. As for patrollers, one man on a quad bike equals four on foot, Erez Sharoni argued. A van can only drive on a road, whereas a quad can cut through footpaths and over grass and is cheaper than a van. Despite his earlier comments about policing, he added that liaison with police is essential, though before regulation of the private security industry, police will not open their books and have 100 per cent liaison, he said.
