Lanarkshire Live had a first-hand look during the recent Construction Watch Scotland launch at the result of rising crime in the industry.
A towable Welfare Unit that had been sited in Ayrshire and broken into returned to the Harthill yard during the event.
Thieves had used hydraulic equipment to force open the doors of the section containing a generator used to power the cabin which provides an essential changing and rest area with heating, hot and cold water for washing and drinking and items such as a kettle for tea breaks.
The cost to replace the generator and repair the unit could be around £5000.
Joe Ward, regional operations director for non-mechanical and welfare at GAP, said: “It’s not just the generator, it costs around £600 to £700 for the doors, then there’s the labour charge to get everything running again. And there’s the problem of getting a new generator, there’s a long waiting list for them.
“The cost of this will fall with the company who hired it and then there’s a knock-on effect as ultimately it will increase the cost of the work they are doing.
“Previously we’ve had a small break-in here in Harthill and they caused more damage than the value of what they took.
“I look after depots from Elgin to Manchester, the Manchester depot has been hit quite a bit. We had 840 track marks stolen overnight, at a cost of £180,000 to us.
“If you wear a high-vis [vest] you can walk about without being questioned. We need to look after ourselves and people in our industry.”
Police Scotland encourages companies in the construction industry to adopt Secured by Design (SBD) products which are tested and certificated by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), a third party body, to police preferred standards of security. They also published a Construction Site Security Guide in 2021.
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