Emergency Response
Preparedness first
Emergency response begins before the emergency. Know the site's emergency plan, evacuation routes, assembly points, fire equipment locations, first-aid points, and contact numbers. Know your role: alert, evacuate, assist, secure, report.
The response sequence
- Assess safety - do not become a second casualty.
- Raise the alarm and call the correct emergency service.
- Evacuate people calmly to the assembly point.
- Assist the injured within your training.
- Secure the area and preserve evidence.
- Report accurately.
Types of emergencies
Understand fire (raise alarm, evacuate, only fight small fires if trained and safe), medical (call for help, do not move a seriously injured person unless in danger), bomb threat (do not touch suspicious objects, evacuate, note details of the call), armed robbery (comply, observe, do not resist, note descriptions), and power failure or structural danger.
Traps in questions
- Running toward danger without assessing safety.
- Moving an injured person unnecessarily.
- Touching or using a radio near a suspected bomb.
- Failing to record times, names and actions.
- Resisting armed robbers - life first.
Worked example
A fire alarm sounds in a warehouse. Correct order: stop work, raise the alarm, guide people to the assembly point, account for staff, call the fire service, secure the perimeter, then report. Incorrect: run inside to check the fire yourself.
Safety and Reporting
Workplace safety
Security work carries occupational health and safety duties. Know the Occupational Health and Safety Act basics: the employer must provide a safe workplace, and the employee must take reasonable care of themselves and others, report hazards, and use protective equipment. Common hazards: slips and trips, poor lighting, electrical risks, aggressive persons, fatigue, and working alone.
Personal safety principles
Stay alert and visible, keep an exit route, maintain safe distance from aggressive people, use communication and backup, and never escalate a confrontation unnecessarily. Situational awareness - noticing what is normal so you notice what is not - is a core skill.
Reporting
Reports must be accurate, factual, timely and legible. Distinguish fact ("the gate was open at 02:15") from opinion or conclusion ("the guard was lazy"). Record the who, what, when, where, how and what action was taken. Use the occurrence book for routine entries and an incident report for significant events. Never falsify, alter or destroy records; never sign for something you did not do.
Traps in questions
- Writing opinions or hearsay as facts.
- Back-dating or altering entries.
- Omitting the time or action taken.
- Ignoring a hazard because "it's not my job".
Rule of thumb
Write every report so that a stranger reading it a year later would know exactly what happened, when, and what you did - without asking you a single question.