Tool theft on the rise
4 July 2023
Research by the NFU Mutual insurance organisation has found that theft of tools and equipment from tradespeople and on construction sites is growing.
Some 89 per cent of tradespeople and contractors have been victims at a time when there are concerns that world events including the conflict in Ukraine are driving up demand for stolen goods as supply chains are placed under strain.
More than three quarters (78 per cent) of workers admit to leaving equipment in a vehicle overnight, with nearly six in ten having experienced theft from their vans. 55 per cent say they have had items stolen from a building site.
However, 43 per cent of tradespeople do not have a full list or know the value of what they own, which could make it difficult to report crimes to the police or to track recovered items back to their owners. Keeping photographic evidence of tools or videoing equipment can be quick and easy ways to create a record.
NFU Mutual suggests a number of theft prevention measures, including storing tools in lockable buildings with locks complying with BS3621 where possible. If equipment has to be left in a vehicle, it should be alarmed and parked close to a wall so that doors cannot be opened easily.
Other suggestions include securing free-standing equipment to a fixed point, even if within a building, such as using an eye bolt in a concrete floor with a chain and robust padlock. Video site security systems and temporary intruder alarms could also be considered.
Tools and equipment should be security marked to deter thieves and aid recovery, and construction plant can be fitted with CESAR marking, tracking and immobilisation.
The NFU Mutual report comes as the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill progresses through parliament. Expected to be signed into law later this summer, it aims to ensure high-value tools and machinery are marked, registered, and traceable if stolen.
The aim of the bill is primarily to prevent the theft of machinery used by the agricultural sector, in particular quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), but its requirements could be extended to other equipment types. It provides a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to all new quad bikes and ATVs.
The bill applies to England and Wales; the prevention, detection and investigation of crime is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Since 2010 NFU Mutual has funded a dedicated vehicle theft unit which shares intelligence and works with police forces across the country and overseas to seize millions of pounds of stolen machinery. The team, which is now part of the new National Construction and Agri Theft Unit (NCATT), says it is responding to thefts which are hitting both sole traders and large construction firms.
Photo: NFU Mutual
