Security Guard Safety Tips

The need for security guard safety tips 

In 2022, more than 830,000 security guards were working in the United States, an estimated 218,200 security guards were working in the United Kingdom and the number of licenced security guards in Australia reached an all-time high of 155,000. Because the market size of security services has increased exponentially over the past decade, it’s safe to say that the need for communicating security guard safety tips could be more important than ever. 

According to a 2022 study of employees working at leading security companies, roughly 88% of survey respondents reported experiencing a dramatic increase in physical threat activity and also expected that threat to grow. Participants also said that companies suffered harm and missed threats due to a “lack of unified protective intelligence.”

Compound these figures with high employee turnover rates in the industry, and you could assume safety concerns could be one of many reasons harming employee retention.

Take steps to proactively address security guard safety. In this article, we’re providing actionable safety tips to help minimise job hazards, improve safety protocols and improve the wellbeing of your workforce – and the contracts they are charged with securing. 

Security guard safety tips

In the event of a security incident, a guard is often the first respondent. There is an inherent risk in these situations, especially in instances of lone workers. That’s why it’s so important to know where your workforce is when they are on a shift.

Tip 1: Leverage location tracking technology to monitor guard patrols. 

Location tracking technology, such as GPS or Beacons, can help give a company better visibility over their security services and operations. This type of technology can also help both the security contractors and their clients to better identify incidents and respond appropriately.

Particularly important for risk mitigation is ensuring that guards are in the right place at the right time to respond to incidents. Guard software can assist by creating digital logs of incidents, keeping track of updates, and assigning particular security guards to help. These logs also help key stakeholders stay informed via automated emails sent immediately as new incidents are reported. 

Lastly, location tracking technology can provide accurate data for on-demand reports, which can then be used to mitigate future risks. 

Tip 2: Expand on visibility based on contract needs

Adding beacons alongside more traditional guard tracking technologies can enhance contract service delivery, particularly for guard patrols. Beacons can provide increased transparency, improved response time and visibility of issues. It’s also possible to use beacons to eliminate inefficient paper-based processes and record keeping. Some other uses include:

• Increased access control and patrol security
• Additional capabilities for monitoring and employee tracking
• Access to task management resources
• Automated cheque-ins
• More detailed feedback and ratings
• GPS mapping and security company software enabled resource management
• Vertical tracking through beacons that enable managers view the location on each floor of a tall building, whereas GPS only track horizontally

After successfully implementing a beacon network, regularly review data analytics to continue meeting company goals. For more information on implementing beacons with security guard software, review the following eBook: 

The Beginner’s Guide to Beacons

Tip 3: Ensure officers feel supported, particularly in lone-worker situations. 

Lone workers face unique challenges. Some of those include hazard identification, risk assessment, location monitoring, workplace safety protocols and emergency escalation. Duress and notification features can help ensure guards get help if and when they need it. 

If a high-risk situation occurs at a job site, your team needs to understand it as soon as possible. Security company software gives your team the tools to quickly record and share images or videos prompted by guard patrol related incidents. Your team can immediately respond by following designated workflow processes. And to better communicate, they can send notifications quickly and easily that alert one another.

Automated notifications can be used to deliver messages to specific workers at designated times to help better connect a workforce. This tool can eliminate workplace conflicts caused by miscommunication. Instead, it creates a positive company culture supported by a full audit trail of workplace events. 

Tip 4: Review and communicate your plan often.

Security companies have their own unique incident management and response plans. As part of your review, ask yourself these questions: 

How can mobile phones help with incident management?

Mobile technology helps security guards quickly respond to incidents and communicate with staff and responders in real-time. Capture activity and incident forms, assign forms to specific locations, capture photos and video, assign issues to specific users. Mobile phones alert supervisors and managers to know exactly where an officer is reporting an incident without requiring guards to describe their location. 

Are digital inspections helpful resolution tools?

Digital inspections can help with guard touring and site audits. Use a mobile device to collect quality assurance metrics, location details, review officer inspections and more.These can also help provide a better understanding of customer KPIs (i.e. if a contract requires the security provider to cheque all of the lights at a property each month, an inspection might provide a better idaea of what to expect while performing that lighting cheque).

How can a company better identify red flags?

This important question provides a valuable security guard safety tip. Exception reports are designed to help manage and resolve specific incidents. These reports are helpful tools that can help spot outliers. Use them to view notifications where designated red flags appear. Also, the system will automatically notify specific people if a scheduled activity is missed and an exception is opened, which can benefit lone workers. 

Can data and reporting tools help manage incidents?

Data and reporting tools can provide customised analytical information that aligns specifically with your contract KPIs to enable better incident management and resolution. Improve service and incident management by tracking incidents by location. Analyse issue trends and review incident reports by category and notification statistics.

Continue to encourage security guard safety

Spending time disseminating tips to your workforce is a huge first step in confronting industry challenges and keeping security officers safe. 

Industry advancements are being made everyday in terms of physical security systems. However, TEAM Software by WorkWave offers several software tools to help support security guard safety, including Lighthouse, our mobile workforce management tool, which specialises in location tracking technology and guard monitoring by providing tools to help your team respond to higher risk situations. Ready to learn more? Request a demo today.