Occupational safety and health for security guards: what applies

• General duty: the employer ensures workers’ health and safety in all aspects of the work (art. 533 §1) and makes known to them the occupational risk of their work (§6(d)).
• Written assessment: the employer assesses the risks, including those arising from work methods, work pace, working time and inadequate information; the assessment is written (art. 533 §8(a)).
• Who draws it up: the employer must hold a written assessment that also covers groups of workers exposed to particular risks, carried out by the safety technician, the occupational doctor, or an internal or external protection and prevention service (art. 534 §1(a)).
• Safety technician and occupational doctor: a business with fewer than 50 workers uses a safety technician; with 50 or more, a safety technician and an occupational doctor (art. 498).
• Access: the written assessment is made available to the workers’ health and safety representatives (art. 534 §7).

As a guard, ask: which risks have been recorded for my post, and what measures cover them? The law requires the employer to tell you.

The Code has no separate article on lone workers, but the written assessment must cover groups exposed to particular risks and risks from the organisation of work (art. 534 §1(a) and §4). For a guard alone on post, in practice that means:

• Contact at set intervals with the operations centre or the supervisor.
• A reliable way to call for help that works across the whole site.
• A written escalation: what happens if the guard does not answer.
• Role limits: what the guard never does alone, such as entering a dark area after an alarm without telling anyone.

More in our guide to lone security guard safety.

Art. 533 §8(a) names the risks arising from work pace and working time. In guarding, night brings specific issues: fatigue and falling alertness, poor lighting on patrols, greater distance from help, and getting home safely.

• Hours and rest: shift limits and rest periods are explained in our guide to security guard shifts and working hours.
• Health on nights: sleep, food, light and alertness in our guide to night shift health.
• Lit routes: dark spots on a patrol route are a fall risk and a security risk; report them for repair.

The employer must assess psychosocial risks, among them the risks of violence and harassment, including sexual harassment, and take measures to prevent, control and limit them (art. 533 §6(θ)). The employer must also inform workers about the risks and the measures against violence and harassment at work (art. 537 §1(b)).

• Written role limits: the post orders say what the guard does when faced with aggression and when to step back and call the police.
• De-escalation: how you speak, where you stand, when you withdraw; it is learned in training, not on the spot.
• Help within seconds: a radio or phone with a known procedure, and reinforced cover at posts and hours with a history of incidents.
• Records: every threat or assault, even verbal, goes into an incident report; that is how patterns show and measures change.

• Who decides: the employer determines the protective measures and, where needed, the protective equipment (art. 534 §1(b)).
• Who pays: health and safety measures in no case impose a financial burden on workers (art. 533 §10).
• What the guard does: uses personal protective equipment correctly and puts it back after use (art. 539 §2(b)).

The law gives no equipment list for guards; it depends on the post. Depending on the assessment it may include a means of communication, a torch, high-visibility clothing where vehicles move, suitable footwear and weather clothing. If something is missing or broken, report it.

• Duty to report: workers report immediately to the employer, or to those acting as safety technician and occupational doctor, every situation reasonably considered an immediate and serious danger, and every defect in protection systems (art. 539 §2(d)).
• Right to withdraw: a worker who, in serious, imminent and unavoidable danger, leaves their post or a dangerous area may suffer no adverse consequence (art. 535 §4).
• Accidents: the employer reports every work accident to the Labour Inspectorate and e-EFKA within 24 hours (art. 534 §2(a)). Tell your supervisor about every injury straight away, however minor it seems.
• If measures fall short: workers and their representatives may turn to the Labour Inspectorate (art. 536 §5).

Health and safety training is given on hiring and with every change of duties or equipment, during working hours and at no cost to you (art. 538). OVIT hires guards for its local teams through the Careers page.