By Paul Laycock
Last evening’s special edition of ITV’s Tonight Programme focussed on metal theft, an issue one in five of us has been directly affected by and which is now estimated to cost the UK as much as £1 billion every year.
With metal prices soaring on the world markets this isn’t a problem that is likely to go away. Hospitals, churches and even war memorials have all been targeted. And with the copper in electrical cables capable of fetching £1000s, thieves are increasingly targeting power providers who are now facing around 700 attacks to their networks each month.
The direct cost of responding to each of these attacks – identifying the fault to the network and rectifying it – is itself considerable. But the real problem is of course the wider impact on all of a utility provider’ customers within a particular area when a key piece of infrastructure such as a substation is taken down.
This presents an operational challenge to get the network up and running again as quickly as possible but also a severe test of the company’s customer communications capabilities to keep customers informed of the status of the situation and when their service is likely to be restored. It’s therefore imperative that power providers take action now to identify weak points in their network and understand where to best focus their security resources to minimise their risks of attack.
Metal theft must be stopped in its tracks
Last night’s programme also highlighted how British Transport Police is already tackling this national problem on the railways, identifying crime hotspots in order to ensure areas where police resources can be deployed to have the greatest effect.
Capturing accurate location data and being able to analyse its significance is the key to preventing metal theft. But thieves continued willingness to risk their lives, and the sheer size of the networks power providers must protect, makes this challenge considerable. So much so that British Telecom has seconded 40 of its own experts to a Waste and Metal Theft Task Force to help tackle this threat. How long I wonder, before we see utilities providers signing up?
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