Workplace Safety and Occupational Health
Security work carries hazards that supervisors control: violence, lone working, night shifts, heat, electricity, manual handling and slips. The exam tests hazard identification, the hierarchy of controls, incident and near-miss reporting, and the supervisor's duty of care.
Hazard and control
A hazard is a source of harm; risk is the chance and severity of that harm. Apply the hierarchy of controls in order: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, engineer a barrier, then administrative controls such as procedures and rotation, and only last personal protective equipment. PPE is the last line because it protects one person and depends on correct use.
The five-step assessment: identify hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate and set controls, record and implement, review and update.
Recurring security hazards
- Assault at the gate or during eviction or crowd control
- Lone working without check-in
- Fatigue and circadian disruption from rotating nights
- Heat stress on outdoor posts in summer
- Electrical equipment and cables in guard huts
- Manual handling of barriers and deliveries
- Slips on wet marble and stairs
Worked example
An outdoor gate post in 45°C summer. Not acceptable: hand out caps and carry on. Correct: rotate guards every 45-60 minutes, provide shade and cooled drinking water, move the post to a shaded position with a barrier boom, schedule heavy tasks for cooler hours, brief on heat-illness signs, and record the control in the risk assessment.
Reporting
Record every incident and near miss. Near misses are free lessons; suppressing them hides a pattern until someone is injured. Investigate cause, not blame.
Traps
Blaming the worker for a system failure; PPE used as the only control; no first-aid provision or stocked kit; unfixed hazards noted in an inspection but never closed out.