It's a fact - the current staff shortage is putting security businesses at risk nation-wide. With thousands of jobs vacated since the pandemic started, the effects of this lack of personnel is already being felt in all kinds of industries - nightlife, event management and nighttime security, among others, have reported that one in five businesses have closed or cut hours due to insufficient staffing.

In this scenario, keeping your staff safe and optimising their time at work are crucial for any business offering security as a service or managing an in-house team of security guards.

In this article, we will go over some tips you can easily apply to keep your security officers safe while at work, and how you can automatically make sure these measures are being applied, even when the shifts take place outside of your working hours.

1. Check their credentials and train them regularly

Receiving proper training can truly make a difference in the way the guards react in case of an emergency or risk to their personal safety. Making sure your guards are SIA-certified is the first step -as required by law-, but there are many topics you can train them on to guarantee their protection and improve their reactions in case of emergency. Some examples could be:

CPR training
First aid training
How to use force
Stress management
Situational awareness

Recurring training in these and other areas will not only provide your staff with the tools they need to succeed at their jobs - it will also make them feel valued in your company and encourage their development.

2. Prepare them for different scenarios

A certified guard will definitely know how to react in case they encounter some problem, but it is never a bad idea to help them protect themselves within the specific environment they are working in.

Share with them the known risks and blind spots on the site where they'll be carrying out their duties, and show them what the best course of action would be for each of them.

3. Make sure they know some basic security measures

How and when to use physical force, the procedures to follow in case of unauthorised access or injury, how to deter an escalation... Your guards must know these and other procedures in order to stay safe and carry out their duties, and the basic certifications may not be enough to guarantee this.

Go over basic security tactics with them before their first shift, and show them how to protect themselves, other employees and the people in their surroundings.

Beyond training, managers and security officers can follow some basic practices to ensure their safety on the job.

4. Make sure they wear proper clothes

This might not be as obvious as it sounds. Different roles require different clothing, and a uniform that is perfect for a guard who's patrolling an industrial park might not be ideal for a guard who's sitting in an office.

If your can afford it, offer your staff different kinds of uniforms depending on their functions, activity, lighting situation and weather forecasts. And remember to provide your guards patrolling high-risk areas with protective clothing.

6. Get them acquainted with the area

Not knowing the environment they are patrolling is dangerous for any security guard.

Guide them around the area, show them where all the exits, stairwells, windows, blind spots and security cameras are. Make sure they know how to protect themselves and remind them to report any potential risk, no matter how small - broken locks, an alarm that's run out of battery, missing lightbulbs and others should be fixed as soon as possible.

7. Check their equipment regularly

Providing them with equipment is a necessary first step to help your guards. But without proper maintenance, those devices could potentially fail them when they most need them.

Make sure both your team and your staff are regularly checking and carrying out proper maintenance of the security officers' equipment - check that everything is charged, loaded and working properly.

8. Make sure they understand the business and their potential threats

A jewellery store and a nightclub have different risks, and your guards must be aware of this.

Especially when they're starting or if they are changing industries, go over the threats of the companies they are working for. This way they'll be able to monitor their surroundings effectively and be aware of their risks.

9. Allow them to modify their routes

Always following the same route will put your guards at risk of ambush and make it easy for criminals to commit a crime when the security officer is not around.

Encourage them to update the pathway they follow often, make it as unpredictable as possible, and vary the guards' arrival and departure times and places.

10. Know where your guards are at all times

It is clear that you can't always be present to protect your staff - some shifts will take place outside of your working hours, and more often than not, you'll have multiple workers in different locations at the same time. Keeping track of everything manually is simply impossible, but knowing your guards' position can help you react quickly and effectively in case of an emergency.

Fortunately, there are certain tools that can help you make sure your guards are safe and on duty, with little to no manual work from your side - like PARiM's workforce management software.

The good news is that you don't even need to be on duty for this - geolocation makes it possible to automate the way you monitor your staff and get an instant report if anything falls out of plan. Automatic calls, NFC tags and GPS tracking are some of the ways you can do this.

You can make sure your security officers are following their assigned route by creating checkpoints with PARiM's NFC tags and iBeacon devices.

11. Make sure they know when and how to ask for help

Security guards should be aware of their limitations. This includes knowing when they can handle a situation on their own and when to call for support.

Making sure they know where the nearest agent or police station is and their response time can really help them asses their risks and decide what to do in case of danger.

You should also set up an automatic system to make sure no incidents have occurred and your guards are well, in case something happens to them and they become unable to call for help themselves.

Automatically confirm that every shift is being covered without incidents and that your lone workers are ok with PARiM's automatic check calls for security personnel.

12. Make sure they get proper rest time

Manually managing multiple clients' requests for staffing can easily lead to accidentally overworked workers - especially if shifts have complicated patterns and guards can be assigned to more than one company.

A specialised software can help you prevent double shifts and make sure your workers are getting the minimum rest time between work periods.

PARiM's scheduling software is perfect for security businesses handling multiple clients or assigning shifts with non-linear patterns. Managers and schedulers can easily view, assign or modify shifts, and workers can accept them or apply for them via the app.

Streamline the way you manage your security guards

Guaranteeing your security guards' safety requires close, permanent cooperation between management and staff. But it also entails good planning and a surveillance system that allows for quick responses in case of emergency.

PARiM can help you with all the steps in this process: from scheduling and shift communication to supervision and check calls. Discover these and other functionalities of our software and start offering a safer environment to your security staff today.

12 Rules for Security Guards to be Safe in the Line of Duty