An accident or near miss during a security shift can happen when the usual site manager is away or the building is running with fewer staff. A short briefing should tell temporary cover what to do at the time, who needs the report and where the record belongs.
NJProtection & Security Services lists shift cover and secure area manning among its current freelance services across West Yorkshire. This guide is for businesses arranging that cover. It does not transfer the site’s health and safety duties, and it does not make the security professional the person responsible for a RIDDOR report.
Start with the site’s own reporting route
Do not wait for something to happen before deciding how it will be reported. Show the person providing cover the current site procedure during the induction, then check that the procedure also works outside normal office hours.
The briefing should identify:
- how to raise an urgent concern while the shift is in progress;
- which manager or responsible role should be contacted, including a fallback if that person cannot be reached;
- where accident and near-miss forms are kept, or how to use the approved reporting system;
- who receives the completed record; and
- what information belongs in the shift handover as well as the separate incident record.
If the regular contact is the person whose absence created the need for cover, name somebody else. A contact list that points back to an unavailable manager is not a working arrangement.
Deal with the immediate situation before writing the account
A written record comes after any action needed to protect people and follow the site’s emergency or first-aid arrangements. The briefing should make that order clear. It should also explain which decisions stay with the duty manager, premises controller or another authorised person.
The separate NJProtection guide to first-aid planning for temporary security cover covers first-aid contacts and facilities in more detail.
Do not leave a legal reporting decision to a handover note
The Health and Safety Executive says that only the responsible person should submit a RIDDOR report. Depending on the circumstances, that may be an employer, a self-employed person or the person in control of the work premises. The site should identify the right role and route the facts to that person promptly.
Ask for facts that another person can follow
A useful record says what happened without guessing about blame or motive. Give temporary cover the same form or system used by the rest of the site, with instructions that fit the agreed duties.
The record may need:
- the date, time and location;
- a plain description of what was seen, heard or reported;
- the source of information where the writer did not witness the event;
- any immediate action taken under the site’s procedure;
- the person or role notified, and the time of that contact;
- details of any unresolved hazard or follow-up passed to management; and
- a reference to other records, without copying restricted information into an ordinary handover message.
Names and contact details should only be recorded where the approved process needs them. HSE guidance says personal details in accident records should be kept confidential and stored securely.
Explain what the site means by a near miss
A near miss causes no injury or ill health but had the potential to do so. It can be easy to dismiss because nobody was hurt. Recording the facts gives the business a chance to spot a damaged control, unclear instruction or unsafe condition before the same situation happens again.
A near miss is not automatically reportable under RIDDOR. Certain events defined as dangerous occurrences are reportable, however. The person providing temporary cover should report what happened through the site’s process rather than trying to make the legal classification unless that responsibility has been formally assigned to them and is legally correct.
Keep RIDDOR separate from the site’s everyday record
RIDDOR requires responsible persons to report and keep records of specified work-related fatalities, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences. An accident taking place at work is not enough on its own. HSE guidance says the event must also be work related.
The site still needs its ordinary record even when an event is not reportable under RIDDOR. HSE says businesses with more than 10 employees must keep an accident book under social security law. Other organisations can use their own proportionate record system, subject to any duties that apply to them.
Temporary security cover can supply a timely factual account. The responsible person should decide whether RIDDOR applies, make any required submission and arrange the investigation or follow-up.
Make the route work at night and during staff absence
Reporting arrangements often look clear during office hours but fail late at night. Before the shift, test the practical details. Can the security professional reach the named contact? Can they access the approved form or system? Is there a fallback for an urgent hazard? Who reviews a routine report on the next working day?
A shift handover can flag that a record exists and identify any open action. It should not become the only copy of the accident or near-miss report. The NJProtection article on what to record in a security shift handover explains how to keep the two records separate.
Pre-shift accident and near-miss checklist
These are practical briefing steps. They are not a complete statement of the law and do not replace the site’s risk assessment or reporting procedure.
- Show temporary cover the current accident and near-miss procedure.
- Name the responsible contact and an out-of-hours fallback.
- Explain how urgent hazards and immediate welfare needs should be raised.
- Provide access to the approved form or reporting system.
- State what factual information the site expects in a record.
- Explain how personal information must be handled and stored.
- Identify the role that decides whether RIDDOR applies.
- Confirm who reviews routine reports after the shift.
- Keep the incident record separate from the general shift handover.
The wider site induction checklist for temporary security cover can help place these points alongside duties, welfare and site contacts.
Sources and further reading
- HSE: RIDDOR explained
- HSE: who should report under RIDDOR
- HSE: report accidents and illness
- HSE: recording and reporting near misses at work
- HSE: investigating accidents and incidents
- NJProtection & Security Services: current services
Discuss temporary security cover in West Yorkshire
Send the site area, date, hours and planned duties so the request can be considered against the role. Include any reporting procedure or site induction requirement that applies to the shift.