Security Guards

Job purpose

To guard, patrol and monitor premises, control the entry and departure of employees and visitors, answer alarms and investigate disturbances, and record what occurs, so that people and property are protected from theft, violence and breaches of the rules, and incidents are dealt with or escalated promptly.

Skills

• Sound knowledge of security practice — patrolling and access control, alarm and detection systems, screening for prohibited articles, the rules of the site and the law governing warning, apprehension and eviction — with basic first aid, report writing, and familiarity with security equipment, telephony and computer systems. Secondary-level education is the norm, with some holding college courses or a post-secondary certificate, and a few days to a year of on-the-job training.
• Deals with the public, visitors and employees throughout the working day, circulating among them to preserve order, answering questions and warning people of rule infractions. Holds a position under challenge, apprehending or evicting violators and using force where circumstances require, and instructs colleagues and site users in security procedures.
• Judges from what is seen and heard whether something is amiss — signs of intrusion, tampering with equipment, an unauthorised person in a restricted area, an alarm of uncertain cause — and decides whether to handle it, summon colleagues or call the police or fire service. Site instructions give the framework, but the reading of the situation is the postholder's own and error carries real consequences.
• Works to a patrol and post routine, organising the sequence of rounds, checks, lock-ups and reports around it and absorbing incidents as they arise under some time pressure. Determines tasks and priorities to a considerable degree within the site's standing orders.
• Patrols premises on foot, secures doors and gates, operates screening and detection devices, inspects and adjusts security equipment, and drives a vehicle to escort or transport individuals. Administers basic first aid, and physically restrains or removes those who will not comply.

Responsibilities

• No line management, but coordinates and directs others during incidents and instructs employees and visitors in what the rules require. Carries a substantial responsibility for the health and safety of other workers and of the public on the site, and for the work of colleagues on the same post.
• No budget and no spending authority. Protects the organisation against loss by theft and damage to property.
• Responsible for the security of buildings, gates, entrances and the property within them, and for security systems, alarms, detection devices, radios and vehicles in use — inspecting and adjusting them, detecting evidence of tampering, and reporting damage. May monitor and adjust controls regulating building systems such as ventilation or boiler plant.
• Writes reports of daily activity and irregularities — damage, theft, unauthorised persons and unusual occurrences — which are relied on by managers and, where matters go further, by the police. Accuracy matters. The reporting format is set by the organisation.

Effort required

• Sustained watchfulness over long periods in which little happens, with the need to notice small changes in surroundings and behaviour, apply the rules exactly, and decide quickly when an alarm or disturbance occurs. The work is repetitive between incidents.
• Regular exposure to disagreement and confrontation: warning, refusing and evicting people, dealing with those who are discourteous or angry, and attending medical emergencies and injuries. Calls for composure and self-control under challenge, alongside responsibility for others' safety.
• A mixture of standing, at post and on patrol, and periods seated at a control post, with occasional exertion in restraining or removing a person and in checking and securing the site.

Working conditions

• Mainly indoors in environmentally controlled premises, with regular periods outdoors on patrol exposed to whatever the weather brings. Work is done in close proximity to the public, carries some exposure to disease and infection through first aid and close contact, and involves confrontation with people who are angry or discourteous.
• All incumbents work a regular established schedule; most work a standard week, with a minority working longer. Freedom to decide how the post is worked is considerable and decisions are frequent and made under some time pressure, but the work is bounded by standing orders and defined points at which the police, emergency services or managers must be called.