Tool theft

Tool thefts can have a huge impact on tradespeople, disrupting their businesses and often resulting in replacement costs of thousands of pounds.

Thieves target a variety of locations, including work vans, building sites, homes and garages or storage.

Here are a few measures you can take to help protect your tools –

If you keep your tools in a van:

• Keep your vehicle locked at all times, even if unattended for a few minutes
• Assess your vehicle security – could you fit a PIR motion alarm in the rear of your van?
• Mark your tools and keep a record of them
• Park vans in well-lit areas and where possible, near CCTV cameras
• Remove valuable tools from your van overnight where possible and keep them somewhere secure

Theft from building sites:

• Remove the temptation – keep minimal materials on site where possible and hide them when not in use
• Assess your site security – could you install CCTV cameras?
• Lock the site gates and set the alarms
• Keep a well-lit site – it can act as a deterrent
• Speak to neighbours or the local Neighbourhood Watch – let them know you are working on the site and ask them to keep an eye out

We have created a poster offering some key advice relating to tool thefts. This can be downloaded for free and we would encourage builders’ merchants and other businesses to print and display them where possible. Help us to help your customers keep their tools safe from thieves.