The most common hazards that occur at petrol stations are:
- theft of fuel from the distributor (refueling and departure of the vehicle without payment for collected fuel)
- theft of goods from the store / station made by customers (eg from racks exposed in the room or from stands located outside)
- thefts made by employees
- acts of vandalism
- robberies and robberies
- traffic incidents in the station
Fuel distribution facilities require comprehensive approach to security. These objects are especially exposed to various dangers, because they are public, located outside the built-up area and operate around-the-clock. What also matters is the fact that there are large amounts of cash in the facility.
In most of these objects there are no steady security employees and often the staff consist only of one-man, especially during the night shift. Even if the most common crime on the petrol stations is the fuel theft from the distributor, the whole area, including fuel tanks, parking, way in/out, should be monitored. Cameras at the entry and exit should be connected with application for automatic number plate recognition set to warn staff if the specific number plates stored in database occur in the camera’s field of view. Such organized system helps prevent crimes thanks to the database with unfair customers. According to the police, installing monitoring system on the petrol station has a positive effect on the security level: it can prevent or find the perpetrator.
Video surveillance systems can also be integrated with other systems used on the petrol stations, such as cash system or fuel distribution. Considerable increase in the security level can be achieved with advanced image analysis (intelligence) by using following functions: detection of loitering or moving into forbidden direction, entry into pre-defined zone.
Proper station protection against theft is not just the monitoring, but also procedures and vendor’s training for various circumstances. Video surveillance with automatic video stream redirection to the surveillance centre in critical or alarm situations allows you to make the right decision in the operation centre in order to act immediately. The important issue is automation of the monitoring process. Creating such system doesn’t engage the stuff and it enables easy supervision over conventional processes inside the petrol stations by using pre-programmed scenarios.
We have experience in cooperation with petrol stations operators and in the creation of a gas station security plan and implementing appropriate system solutions. In order to assist with danger analysis and solutions selection, please contact us.
