How do I record security patrols and keep an occurrence log?
Short answer
- Agree with the client what the log must hold. No provision we consulted sets a format. The contract and assignment instructions usually do.
- Define the checkpoints, the route and the interval for each site, and write them into the assignment instructions.
- Have each pass recorded with the time and the checkpoint. A pass records a time, not who was there.
- Compare expected and recorded passes and follow up each gap. For lone officers, agree contact intervals in advance.
- Keep the occurrence log factual. Record only the personal data you need.
What the law says
- SIA guidance: guarding premises against unauthorised access, disorder or damage is licensable manned guarding. Premises can include exterior boundaries such as walls, fences and gates. Most front line licences are photocards that must be worn when working.
- HSE: lone workers include security staff. An employer must manage the risks before people work alone and must monitor lone workers and keep in touch with them. Regulation 3 of the 1999 Regulations requires a risk assessment.
- HSE examples of monitoring: pre-agreed intervals of regular contact, and a reliable system to ensure a lone worker has returned to base. Test these systems regularly.
- UK GDPR Article 5: personal data must be limited to what is necessary and kept no longer than necessary. The controller must be able to demonstrate compliance.
Official sources consulted on :
- Find out if you need an SIA licence, GOV.UK (Security Industry Authority)
- Lone working: Protect those working alone – overview, HSE
- Lone working – manage the risks of working alone, HSE
- Lone working – training, supervision and monitoring, HSE
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3 – Risk assessment, legislation.gov.uk
- UK GDPR, Article 5 – Principles relating to processing of personal data, legislation.gov.uk
Practical examples
- Industrial estate: six checkpoints (gate, yard, warehouse, tank, office, car park) and a 120-minute interval. Each pass is recorded by checkpoint code with the time.
- A lone officer patrols at night. You agree contact intervals in advance. The control room opens the missed-checkpoints list and calls the officer if a point is overdue.
- Suggested occurrence log entry, a recommendation and not a legal form: date, time, post, officer, event, action taken, who was told.
- After the shift ends, the missed list still shows overdue points on routes with an interval, because it ignores shift hours.
Common mistakes
- Treating a scan as proof of presence. The code identifies the checkpoint, not the person.
- Expecting GPS, geofencing, a map, an officer app or automatic alerts. 4guards has none of them.
- Expecting 4guards to produce QR or NFC labels. It does not generate or print them.
- Logging the names of bystanders and number plates that the purpose does not need.
How 4guards helps
- From the Plus plan you create checkpoints, each with a unique code, and routes and rounds for each site.
- You record a pass by entering the code or choosing the checkpoint in the panel, or by sending it through the API. Coordinates and officer are optional fields you supply. 4guards does not measure them.
- The missed-checkpoints list compares the last pass with the current time on every active route that has an interval, and shows points never recorded. You open the list; nothing is sent.
- Not included: GPS, geofencing, map, officer app, offline mode, label printing and alert sending. A pass is a time entry.