Health, safety and wellbeing at work
This section covers health, safety and wellbeing at work for property guards. The exam tests whether you can identify hazards, apply controls and report issues under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).
Duties
- The person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) has the primary duty to manage risks. As a worker, you must take reasonable care for your own and others' safety, follow safe systems and report hazards and incidents.
- Use the hierarchy of controls: eliminate the risk if possible, then substitute, isolate, engineer, administrate or use PPE. PPE is the last line of defence.
Common guard hazards
- Violence and aggression, lone work, fatigue, poor lighting, weather, traffic, hazardous substances and manual handling. Report near misses as well as injuries.
- Manage fatigue with breaks, hydration and roster limits. Do not work unfit through alcohol, drugs, illness or exhaustion. Use agreed communication and check-in systems.
Worked example: On a lone night shift you find the car park lighting has failed. You report it immediately, avoid patrolling that area alone, ask for temporary lighting or a colleague, and record the control. Reasoning: HSWA requires risks to be managed, not ignored because 'it's only a light'.
Traps: not reporting near misses; accepting unsafe lone work; using a personal phone as the only communication; hiding fatigue; treating wellbeing as a personal weakness.