What does the equipment theft-risk score measure?
Construction and rental equipment is valuable, mobile and often left overnight in open places. The score separates two things: how exposed your equipment is, and how much your controls reduce that exposure.
Exposure comes from five answers about the site and habits, the value of a typical unit and the number of units at one site. Controls come from seven protections and ten visibility checks. The result is an overall score from 0 to 100, a level and a protection level to look at first.
How many exposure points does each answer give?
| Factor | Answer and points |
|---|---|
| Site type | Open or unfenced site: 3 Fenced site without a guard: 2 Guarded or access-controlled site: 1 |
| Night parking | Locked compound or workshop: 0 Company yard with a fence: 1 At the project site: 2 Open ground or roadside: 3 |
| Ease of removal | Drives or tows away easily: 2 Needs a trailer or a crane: 1 Fixed or very hard to remove: 0 |
| Theft history | None known: 0 An attempt, or parts or fuel taken: 2 A machine or equipment stolen: 3 |
| Key holding | Named keyholders with a signed register: 0 Shared between several crews: 1 Often left in the machine: 2 |
| Unit value | Below the mid limit: 0 From the mid limit: 1 From the high limit: 3 |
| Units at one site | Fewer than 10 units: 0 10 or more units: 1 |
Indicative points set by Tracom for planning. Staff can edit them. They are not insurer ratings.
How is the overall score calculated?
Protection has seven items: five worth 2 and two worth 1, so 12 in total. A yes earns the full credit and partly earns half. Visibility has ten checks worth 1 each. The control level mixes the two: 60% protection and 40% visibility. A tracker nobody watches protects little, so visibility counts.
The factor 0.7 means that even full controls remove at most 70% of the exposure. The most exposed equipment with every control in place still scores 30, which is medium.
Which three protection levels does the result point to?
A low score points to Track, a medium score to Track and alert, and a high score to Stop and recover. Each level includes the one before it.
Track
Low score
- Tracker on every unit
- Yes
- Register and one map
- Yes
- Out-of-hours alert
- No
- Engine start control
- No
Track and alert
Medium score
- Tracker on every unit
- Yes
- Register and one map
- Yes
- Out-of-hours alert
- Yes
- Engine start control
- No
Stop and recover
High score
- Tracker on every unit
- Yes
- Register and one map
- Yes
- Out-of-hours alert
- Yes
- Engine start control
- Yes
When a unit is in the high value band and the score points below Stop and recover, the result adds a note. One loss can cost more than the protection.
Which values start in the tool?
| Value | Starts at |
|---|---|
| Mid-value limit (your currency) | 30,000typical |
| High-value limit (your currency) | 100,000typical |
| Units at one site that add a point | 10typical |
| Share of exposure the controls can remove | 70%typical |
| Mix of protection and visibility | 60 / 40typical |
Typical values for planning. Set the two limits to the values that matter in your business.
Worked example
- A contractor keeps 12 excavators and loaders on an open project site. Keys are shared between crews, and parts were taken last year. A typical unit is worth 120,000, above the high limit of 100,000.
- Exposure: open site 3, parked at the project 2, easy to drive away 2, attempt 2, shared keys 1, high value 3 and 12 units 1. That is 14 of 17 points: 82%, high.
- Protection: a tracker on every unit is in place (2), engine start control is partly in place (1) and key control is partly in place (0.5). That is 3.5 of 12: 29%.
- Visibility: two checks pass and three are partly in place, which is 3.5 of 10: 35%. The control level is 0.6 x 29% + 0.4 x 35% = 32%.
- Overall score: 82.4% x (1 - 0.7 x 0.315) = 64, high. The controls remove 18 points. The result points to Stop and recover.
Common mistakes
- Answering for the best-protected site. Answer for the units that are least protected.
- Counting a tracker as a control when nobody watches it. The visibility checks exist for this.
- Using the purchase price for the value limits. Use the replacement value, and set limits that matter to you.
- Never testing the alerts. An alert that was never tested may reach nobody.
Assumptions and limits
This score is a planning aid built from your own answers. It is not an insurance or security assessment and does not say that equipment is safe, insured or recoverable. Points, credits and levels are indicative defaults. Check the real risk with your insurer and a security professional.