FACTS

Specific Occupational Risks for Security Guards

1. Physical stress: A cramped work area can cause poor blood circulation, and along with other workload risks you could suffer muscular pain.
2. Psychological stress: Insufficient motivation along with a strained mental and emotional work environment can cause stress and tiredness, which could lead to poor mental health.
3. Violence: Security guards have to prepare for situations in which physical violence may threaten them. Furthermore, workplace violence can include bullying, intimidation — often involving a weapon.
4. Weapons handling: Your employer must provide proper weapons-handling training to all security guards.
5. Guard dog risks: The lack of adequate training can cause guard dogs to be unpredictable or aggressive.
6. Radiation exposure: If your guard post is at a hospital or laboratory, you might face radiation risks.
7. Work schedule and organization: Inflexible schedules and working alone with no relief workers can cause health and safety risks.
8. Female-specific hazards: If you are a female security guard, you may need to take special precautions if you become pregnant or while you are breastfeeding.

STATS

• Data analysis suggests that as many as 42% of all security officers who suffer occupational injuries are hurt between the hours of 20:00 and 08:00, even though far fewer security officers are on duty during those hours.
• One study, which examined data on 30,000 Canadian workers, found that employees who work nights or rotating shifts were nearly twice as likely to suffer a work injury as daytime workers.
• Violence is the leading cause of on-the-job fatalities but slips and falls account for the greatest share of injuries to private security officers, typically in the range of 30% to 40% of injuries, from Australia, the UK, South Africa, and the US.
• In the US, the annual nonfatal injury rate for security officers was 14 per 1,000 full-time employees. For workers in armored car services, it was higher, 36 per 1,000 employees. The rate of cases that required days away from work or work restrictions was 9 for every 1,000 security workers: 28 per 1,000 armored car employees.
• The Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) recorded 3,560 workplace injuries to security guards. The results were broken into three main causes: falls, motor vehicle accidents and acts of violence.
• Falls are one of the most common types of injury accidents for security guards. An estimated 30.5 % of all non-fatal injuries and 6.6 % of all fatal injuries to security guards happen as a result of some type of fall. Another 6.1 % of non-fatal work injuries sustained by security guards are caused by slips and trips.