EXECUTIVE REPORT
Iain Anderson (right) receives his Award from Steve Watson, Deputy Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary.
Cut your losses A new initiative has been introduced to combat the theft of smaller tools and equipment.
The annual CITS (Combined Industries Theft Solutions) Conference has previously discussed challenges concerning the issue of plant theft, but this year’s event also highlighted the fact that smaller items of equipment are increasingly being targeted.
Back in 2007, following work co-ordinated by the Construction Equipment Association and the Plant Theft Advisory Group, the Construction Equipment Security and Registration Scheme, or Cesar, was launched. Developed by Datatag ID, it protects machinery with visible and invisible deterrents and markings, and more than 200,000 items now have this fitted. Statistics suggest that it reduces the risk of theft by six times, with stolen equipment four times more likely to be recovered.
However, more thieves are now targeting other equipment, a fact recognised by the conference theme of ‘Small tools, big losses’. Ian Elliott, Head of Security with the Clancy Group, who previously worked with the Metropolitan Police and is also the Chair of CITS, told EHN that “the costs associated with thefts like this are considerable, not just the value of the items, but also the time spent in investigating the theft, processing claims and the interruption to work on-site.”
Also attending the conference was Iain Anderson, Joint MD of GAP, who has been instrumental in bringing national hirers together in the Plant Hire Steering Group of CITS, to discuss theft issues and suggest preventative actions. Indeed, Iain was presented with a Cesar Recognition Award during the event for this work. “We will be urging manufacturers to adopt Micro Cesar. Larger plant, such as mini excavators and telescopic handlers, can be fitted with immobilisers and other devices, or they can have unique keys - but you cannot do that with an item like a cut-off saw. As well as the cost of replacing stolen equipment, dealing with insurers and loss adjusters takes considerable time, so it is far better to take steps to prevent theft in the first place.”
The Micro Cesar system was launched at the Conference.
The Conference also discussed the issue of fraudulent hires, including presentations from JCB Insurance Director, Michael Gregory who described the activities of organised crime gangs. KPMG Director, Julie Bruce, spoke about fraud committed by a company’s own employees, ranging from theft of assets and cash, to customer over-billing and, even, bribery. She profiled a typical perpetrator as being a male senior manager, aged between 36-45, with five or more years’ service, and she outlined
various internal control measures that companies could adopt.
The Conference saw the launch of Datatag’s Micro Cesar, an identity system specifically for smaller construction and landscaping equipment like cut-off saws, breakers and compaction plates. It incorporates warning/registration labels, QR codes and RFID tags. “As well as combating theft, the QR codes can be used so that, when a user scans them with their mobile phone, they see the website of the hirer supplying the equipment, giving information like operating instructions and Health & Safety guidance. The tags show whether the equipment has been stolen, and Micro Cesar will also help police officers in accurately identifying items they encounter, showing the rightful owner.”
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Ian Elliott agrees that “people need to wake up to ‘cyber’ crimes and fraudulent hire activity, ranging from downloading realistic-looking software to run a spreadsheet, that turns out to be a trojan extracting data from your own system, to ‘phishing’ scams. Clancy had an issue where an email appeared to have been sent from one of our senior directors, requesting a money transfer. An alert member of staff realised that the email address was bogus and linked to a spoof account, but it looked very authentic, with just one letter in the person’s real name having been altered. Scams can be very convincing, so businesses need to be vigilant.”
• 01926 863303
www.theftsolutions.org
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