Contractors Shepherd Construction faced potential difficulties posed by having upwards of 20 boundaries to a construction site.
The CCTV – 15 static Sony dome cameras and nine PTZ Dennard domes with Sony CCD chips – is remotely monitored 24-hours by Sony SAIF installation firm Camwatch Monitoring from its central station in Sheffield. Shepherd commissioned Camwatch to install the system which features duplex audio facilities, with the images transmitted to the central station through Controlware-VAS2800 video alarm system linked to Dedicated Micros DigiSprite recorders. All incidents on site are triggered by a series of Redwall detection sensors located around the perimeter.
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Shepherd wanted CCTV to provide security and management information by day, and surveillance out of hours. In a typical working day, the site is very busy with vehicles and deliveries. The contractors can monitor these movements to enforce health and safety on site. Over the 18 months of construction, due to finish this summer, the CCTV and monitoring has, according to Shepherd, paid for itself. Site Manager, Malcolm King says: ‘All the out of hours incidents have been 100 per cent resolved with the perpetrators being either successfully warned off or arrested on site. Such has been the effectiveness of the monitoring by Camwatch that we have benefited from a total reduction in actual criminal damage, fully justifying the decision to monitor the site 24 hours."
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In most instances, trespassers to the site during out of hours are warned off by central station staff using the duplex audio facility or arrested by police, responding to the central station. In one case an intruder ignored the verbal warnings and tried to force entry into a construction crane; the intruder was arrested before any damage to expensive equipment damage was done. CCTV cameras are regularly relocated as the development changes. The system stems from an innovation team at Shepherd Construction head office in York, geared to looking at new products and services, to increase safety and reduce costs, working with the company’s supply chain. According to Paul Eastwood, who heads this department at Shepherd: ‘The use of CCTV, not just for site security but as a management tool, has become a key development area for us and by working closely with both Sony and Camwatch we have been able to achieve increased safety and reduce cost on site. At the same time the success of this CCTV operation will ensure that similar programmes are used elsewhere in the Shepherd Group." The Rushes, an L-shaped site, will include an underground car park, 16 retail units, a health and fitness club with an indoor swimming pool, theme clubs, bars and restaurants, and apartments.
