Equipment theft is a huge problem across Europe, with organised criminals preying on the ill-prepared and the unwary. Insurance industry estimates put the total cost of equipment theft at over €7 billon/year.
But
The CESAR effect has reduced overall equipment theft in the UK by 46%, increased the rate of recovery of stolen equipment by a factor of six, and helped reduce insurance premiums on equipment.
According to police statistics CESAR-registered machines are four times less likely to be stolen and six times more likely to be recovered than unregistered machines.
The 150,000th machine to be fitted with the system, a modified
Finning, the world’s largest Caterpillar heavy and general equipment dealer, adopted CESAR in March 2010, and since then over 10,000 Cat machines have been safeguarded with the security system supplied by Datatag ID.
At present CESAR is essentially a UK-wide scheme, but it made a major step forward in its plans for international expansion when CGT, the exclusive Caterpillar dealer in Italy, said that from January 2014 it would be fitting the system to Cat machines sold in that country. Other European markets are also interested, including Sweden.
CESAR works by giving each piece of equipment a special and permanent fingerprint using an array of covert and overt high-technology security marking devices including tamper evident triangular registration plates, radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponders, forensic liquid DNA, and microscopic Datadots.
Another system helping with security is Revader, which develops and distributes rapid deployment security products, utilising cutting-edge video capture, transmission, monitoring, and storage technology.
Among customers are UK and international governments and end-users that require ultra-high performance video technology to meet their security needs, including
“Quarries are of course potentially very dangerous places to work in and understandably our clients take the safety of their employees, as well as visiting customers and sub-contractors, very seriously,” says Chris Willett, director of Ellesmere Port, north-west England- based Sabre Security Systems.
“They have therefore never hesitated to invest in the latest technology to ensure their sites comply at all times with very strict health and safety procedures.
“One of the main concerns however at each of the eight quarries has been the activity that may take place at night or when the sites are closed during holiday periods.”
Hanson invited a number of installers to submit proposals to supply and install a video surveillance solution which would provide comprehensive coverage at each of the eight quarries.
Sabre Security Systems was awarded the contract, based on its recommendations that Revader Totem PTZ cameras should be specified for the project.
The Totem PTZ, a rapid redeployable vandal-resistant camera and recording solution with a 36x optical zoom lens, can be remotely controlled to allow operators to observe close-up detail of any activity and track the movement of people, machinery or vehicles, and when not remotely controlled, the camera can be programmed to move to up to 128 pre-set positions.
It is said that its rugged construction makes it ideal for harsh environments such as quarries, while the camera’s day/night functionality means that it can capture high quality colour images when light levels are as low as 0.07 lux and monochrome images at 0.01 lux.
Available with the option of Ethernet, Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity, the Totem PTZ utilises the Linux-based Wavestore video recording and management software.
“Although the Totem PTZ’s are designed to be redeployable, in this instance they have proved to be a highly cost-effective and robust method of monitoring the quarries compared to traditional CCTV cameras,” says Willett.
A total of 13 Totem PTZs have been installed across eight Hanson sites in the north-west of England and Wales, and at night or when the quarries are not operating, external intruder detection sensors trigger the transmission over 3G of live images of any activity to a call centre where an operator can verify what is occurring and if appropriate, call an authorised key holder. The recorded video of any incident can be remotely retrieved with the help of the Wavestore software.
