Occupational Health and Safety for Guards
Occupational health and safety tests whether you can spot hazards in your own job and control them before they injure you or someone else.
Risk assessment
The sequence is: identify the task, the hazard, who is exposed, the likelihood and severity, the controls, and review. Controls follow a hierarchy: eliminate, substitute, engineer (barriers and lighting), administrate (rotas and procedures), then PPE last - never PPE alone.
Guard-specific hazards
- Shift work and fatigue: long hours and night shifts cause drowsiness; report it and request rotation.
- Lone working: check-in calls and telling someone your route.
- Violence from the public: know your escape route, carry a radio and duress alarm.
- Manual handling: lift with your legs, get help, use a trolley.
- Environment: slips, trips, heat, noise, and electrical hazards at gates.
- PPE: hi-vis vest, torch, safety boots, gloves, wet-weather gear.
Worked example
Your relief does not arrive and you have already worked 12 hours. Reasoning: fatigue is a hazard, not a personal weakness. Report to the supervisor in writing, request relief, and do not take on tasks needing full alertness, such as driving, if you are unfit. Record that you notified them.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating PPE as the only control measure.
- Not reporting near-misses.
- Working alone in an unsafe area without a check-in.
- Ignoring a hazard because "it has always been like that".