You’ve worked hard to build your business, even adding scrap metal recycling to help reduce your overhead, so having material stolen in your shop can be discouraging as your profits go down.

Unfortunately, employee theft is all too common in today’s world. Here are some great ways to help prevent material theft in your shop:

Preventing Material Theft

1. Put effort into creating a positive company culture. By getting employees excited about the company and showing that you care about their outside concerns, you can build rapport with them. Employees are less likely to steal from managers and owners they respect.
2. Make sure policies and procedures are on paper, along with the consequences for theft or other forms of fraud. When these issues are written out, it’s harder for an employee to claim they didn’t know taking scrap metal was considered theft if it’s right there in black and white.
3. As simplistic as it sounds, hire people who are honest. Pre-employment background checks provide a place to stop the hiring process when something untoward is found, such as a criminal history, violence or fraud, civil history of collections, judgments or liens and employment verification.
4. Separate duties so that the people weighing the scrap at your business and the people turning it in for recycling are different parties. This creates accountability when the weight at the shop and the weight at the recycling company are different. Initiate random audits of these records to keep any theft from getting out of hand.
5. Set up restricted access to your scrap metal storage. By constructing a bin for scrap metal, even secured with something as simple as a padlock, you’re making it clear that scrap is for recycling, not side projects or profits. Label the bin as “scrap metal” and “restricted access”.
6. Set up a system for anonymous tips and investigate every theft incident that comes up. If your employees think they can get away with it because of your inaction, it’s sending a weak message and will increase your losses. By being proactive and dealing with losses, you’ll reduce future losses.

Now that you’ve got a better idea of how to prevent scrap theft, it’s time to get the most out of it. Set aside an area to collect it or contact us to arrange pickup of your recyclable scrap metal, then enjoy your rising profits and falling overhead.