Industrial security cameras for factories and plants: what to watch and what to check

Start with what you have. Many plants already have cameras at the gate and on the floor. The gap is that nobody is looking at them at 2 a.m.

First check that each camera can see what it should in your conditions. Then add alerts on top, so the cameras tell someone when something happens. Replace a camera only when it cannot do its job where it hangs.

Walk the site and list where a loss, an accident or a fire would hurt most. For most plants the list looks like this.

• The perimeter and fence line. People at the boundary after hours.
• Gates and loading bays. Who comes and goes, and vehicles at the gate when you are closed.
• Stores and high-value rooms: raw material, finished goods, tools, scrap and metal. People in these outside working hours.
• Fire-risk areas. Electrical rooms, battery charging, dust and oil areas, and stacked packaging. A fire at night burns unseen from the road. Read fire alarm or smoke detection camera: what each one does.
• The yard and parking. Trucks, material and anything left outside overnight.
• The cameras themselves. A camera that stops working, or is covered, leaves a hole exactly where you thought you had cover.

Want to know when someone is on site after hours? Try it free for 7 days, no card

A camera that works well in an office can fail in a plant. Check these on each camera, or on its datasheet.

• Dust. The IP rating on a camera has two digits. The first digit covers dust and other solids, from 0 to 6, and 6 means dust-tight. Dust on the lens still blurs the picture, so plan to clean it.
• Water and wash-down. The second digit covers water, from 0 to 9, and 9 means high-pressure hot water jets. Areas that are hosed down need a high second digit. Note that an IP rating shows how a camera was tested. It does not state the conditions you can use it in.
• Heat and cold. Check the operating temperature range on the datasheet. Cameras near ovens, furnaces and boilers, or in full sun, need to be rated for it.
• Hazardous areas. Where flammable gas, vapor or dust can be present, ordinary electrical equipment can spark. Cameras made for these areas are certified as explosion-protected, and which one you need depends on how the area is classified. Ask your safety officer and a qualified installer. Do not fit or move cameras there yourself.
• Light. A camera cannot see in the dark unless the area is lit or the camera has infrared. Check the view at dusk and at 2 a.m., not only at noon.
• Cable runs. One run of network cable is limited to about 328 feet (100 meters). A big plant often needs a switch partway. Read PoE security cameras.

• 1. Walk the plant at night with your phone or a screen showing each camera.
• 2. Note which views are dark, blurred, dusty or blocked by something new, such as stacked stock.
• 3. Clean lenses and housings, and put the cleaning on a schedule. See security camera maintenance.
• 4. Replace or add a camera only where the view cannot be fixed another way.

Most plant cameras only record. Software can read the video from the cameras and recorder you have and tell you when something happens. Ours installs on a Windows computer at your site in 60 seconds and works with Hikvision, Dahua, CP Plus, TVT, Uniview, Axis, Hanwha, or any camera or recorder that offers RTSP or ONVIF. Nothing on your existing system changes.

Standard on every site:

• People in the zones you mark, outside the hours you set. A store, the yard or a gate after your last shift.
• Smoke and fire in the view of a camera.
• A covered camera. If a lens is so dusty or dirty that the view goes dark or blurred, you hear about it, and that is your cue to clean it.
• A camera that goes offline.

Some checks depend on your layout, so we set them up with you for your cameras. They are not switched on for everyone.

• Helmet and vest checks in the areas where they are required. See helmet and vest detection.
• Forklift and person too close in a lane you mark. See forklift near-miss alerts.
• Idle machines and lines that have stopped.
• People lingering at the fence or gate. See loitering detection.
• Rules in plain words, such as anyone in the finished-goods store after 8 p.m.

Each alert is a photo with the camera and the time, on WhatsApp, Telegram or the Foreman app, while it is still happening. A second, larger model checks each event before you are alerted. Our own AI models, trained in-house, watch every camera.

You decide what happens next: call the site, send someone, or call the police. We do not send guards, speak to anyone or call the police. Camera smoke and fire alerts complement certified fire alarms. They never replace them. Ask your fire authority what your plant needs.

Pick three cameras: the main gate, your most valuable store and the area where a fire would be worst. Try alerts on those first. A free trial covers up to 32 cameras, with no card, so you can see what arrives on a real night before you decide. For more on plants, read warehouse security and how we help engineering and metal plants.