Leading a Shift

Readiness note. This is a private training programme. It builds knowledge and readiness. It does not grant any official certificate, licence, or government recognition, and it does not create any affiliation with a regulator or an agency. On passing, learners receive a Record of Completion.

Mission briefing

You were a good guard. Now you lead other guards. The job changes. You are no longer judged only on your own post. You are judged on every post, every guard and every hour of your shift.

Focus: a shift goes well when every guard knows who is in charge, what their post must do today, and who to call. That is your job.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Explain how the chain of command works on a site, and what to do when two people give a guard different orders.
• Judge how many guards one supervisor can really watch.
• Plan a shift and run a short start-of-shift briefing.
• Settle in a reliever or a new guard safely.
• Work with guards from another agency through their own supervisor.
• Say no, politely, when guards are pulled away for odd jobs.

1. From guard to supervisor

As a guard, you looked after one post. As a supervisor, you look after the whole shift. This means:

• You make sure every post is filled, on time, by a fit guard.
• You make sure every guard knows the orders for their post.
• You check that the work is done. You do not just hope it is.
• You are the first person guards call when something goes wrong.
• You pass problems up to your manager early, with the facts.
• You keep the shift log and hand over the shift properly.

Some new supervisors try to do every job themselves. Others sit at the main gate all shift. Both are mistakes. A supervisor who is never seen at the far posts does not know what happens there.

Guards learn their own duties in units 2A (post orders, handover and the logbook) and 6A (patrolling). This module is about leading them.

2. The chain of command

A chain of command shows who gives orders to whom. On most sites it looks like this:

1. The client's security head or site manager agrees the work with your agency.
2. Your agency manager (or operations manager) runs the contract.
3. You, the shift supervisor, lead the guards on your shift.
4. The guards carry out the post orders.

Each guard should have one boss on duty: you. A guard with three bosses gets confused, and the post suffers.

When client staff ask a guard to do something, the request should come through you. Polite staff will understand this. If a request is urgent and safe, the guard may help at once and tell you straight away. If it would take the guard off the post, the guard calls you first.

When two people give a guard different orders, teach your guards to:

1. Follow the written post orders and keep people safe first.
2. Politely ask the person to wait.
3. Call you at once.

Then you decide, or you call your manager. Write down who asked for what, and what was decided. If the post orders are unclear, get them fixed (see module S2, Writing Post Orders and Site Instructions).

Never give an order that breaks the law or puts someone in danger, and never pass one on. If your manager or a client asks for something like that, say no politely, and report it upwards.

3. How many guards can you watch?

"Span of control" means how many people one leader can really supervise. It is not just a number. It depends on:

• Distance. Ten guards at one gate are easy to watch. Ten guards spread over a large factory are not.
• Communication. Can you reach every post by radio or phone, at any time?
• The type of site. A busy hospital or a mall needs closer support than a quiet warehouse.
• Experience. New guards need more of your time.
• Your other jobs. If you also run the control room, you have less time for posts.

If you cannot visit every post during the shift, or answer every call quickly, you have too many guards. Tell your manager, with facts: how many posts, how far apart, how long a full round takes.

4. Planning your shift

Do this before the shift starts. Fifteen minutes of planning saves hours of trouble.

• Read the last shift's log. Note open issues: a broken light, a faulty camera, a barred person seen, an important visitor due.
• Check the roster. Who is on? Who is absent? Who is new to the site? Arrange cover for any empty post. (Rosters are covered in module S4, Rosters, Fatigue and Welfare.)
• Check today's events. Deliveries, contractors, meetings, a function, a strike notice, heavy rain.
• Check the kit. Radios charged, torches working, registers and pens at each post, keys counted.
• Decide who goes where. Put experienced guards on the hardest posts. Pair a new guard with a steady one.

5. The start-of-shift briefing

Bring the guards together for five to ten minutes before they take over their posts. Some sites call this the fall-in. Keep it short, standing and in the language your guards speak best.

A simple briefing order:

1. Attendance. Check that everyone is present. Look at each guard: are they fit for duty? (Signs of a guard who is not fit are in unit 2B, Fit for Duty and Working Alone; and module S5, Coaching, Discipline and the Troubled Guard.)
2. Turn-out. Uniform, identity card shown, whistle, notebook, pen, torch.
3. Posts. Tell each guard their post and any change.
4. What is new. New orders, open issues from the last shift, today's events.
5. Watch for. Any person, vehicle or risk to look out for.
6. Safety. Heat, rain, a hazard on the site, the emergency number.
7. Radio check. Call signs and a test call.
8. Check understanding. Ask two or three guards a question. "Ravi, what do you do if the contractor's van arrives without a gate pass?"

Asking a question is better than asking "Any doubts?" Most guards will say "No doubts, sir" even when they are unsure.

On sites where guards start at different times, brief each guard at their post instead. Do not skip the briefing because the shift is busy. A busy shift is when it matters most.

6. Relievers and new guards

A reliever is a guard sent to cover a post for a day or a few days. A reliever does not know the site. This is a weak point. Many incidents happen when a stranger is on the post.

For every reliever or new guard:

• Walk the post with them. Show the exits, the alarm panel, the fire extinguishers, the blind spots and the phone numbers.
• Read the post orders with them. Do not just hand over the file.
• Tell them the three things that matter most on this post today.
• Introduce them to the guard on the next post and to the control room.
• Check on them within the first hour, and again during the shift.
• Write it in the log: who the reliever is, which post, and that they were briefed.

If a reliever cannot read the post orders, or does not understand them, read them aloud and ask questions back. If you still have doubts, do not leave them alone on a key post. Move a steady guard there and put the reliever on a simpler post.

7. Guards from another agency

Some sites use guards from two agencies, or a mix of in-house and contract guards. You may not be their supervisor.

• Work through their own supervisor. Agree who covers which post, and how you will call each other.
• Do not give orders directly to another agency's guards, except in a real emergency to keep people safe.
• Share information that keeps the site safe: a barred person, a broken gate, a threat.
• Report problems with another agency's guard to their supervisor and to your manager. Do not argue with the guard in front of the public.
• Keep one emergency plan. In an emergency, everyone must know who is in charge (see module S8, Running the First Minutes of an Emergency).

8. Odd jobs weaken protection

On many sites, guards are asked to do other work: carry files, fetch tea, drive a car, park vehicles for guests, watch a shop counter, or run to the bank.

Each odd job takes the guard away from the post. While they are gone, the gate is open, the screens are not watched and the round is not done.

What you do:

• Teach guards to say politely: "I cannot leave my post. I will call my supervisor."
• If the request comes to you, explain the risk politely. Offer another way if you can.
• If a client keeps asking, write down each request and tell your manager. Your manager can agree with the client what guards will and will not do.
• If a task is agreed, put it in the post orders. Then it is part of the job, and the post is planned for it.

9. During the shift

• Be seen. Visit every post, including the far ones, at different times. (Module S3, Checking Posts, Rounds and Drills, shows what to check.)
• Answer calls fast. A guard who calls and gets no answer stops calling.
• Deal with small problems early. A late reliever, a broken light or a rude visitor is easier to fix now than after it grows.
• Keep the shift log. Write times, events, visits and decisions as they happen.
• Pass problems up early. Tell your manager about anything serious, unusual or likely to reach the client. Bad news travels; it is better that your manager hears it from you first.
• Thank people. A short "well done" for a good catch costs nothing and is remembered.

10. Ending the shift

Hand over to the next supervisor face to face, not just by phone or chat.

• Walk through the shift log together.
• List open issues, faults and anything to watch.
• Hand over keys, radios and registers, and count them together.
• Tell the next supervisor about any guard who needs support.
• Both of you sign the log.

Guards hand over their own posts in the same way (unit 2A, Your Post: Orders, Handover and the Logbook). Check that they do.

Activity — what would you do?

Read each case. Decide your first three actions, in order.

1. Office tower. At 7 a.m. the admin manager tells your lobby guard to help carry boxes to the fifth floor "for ten minutes".
2. Factory. A reliever arrives for the material gate. He has never worked on this site, and the regular guard has already left.
3. Hospital. You have 14 guards on four buildings, a car park and the emergency ward. A full round of all posts takes you 90 minutes on foot.
4. Mall. During your briefing, you ask "Any doubts?" Everyone says no. An hour later a guard lets a shop's staff take out goods without a gate pass.
5. Information technology (IT) park. The client's own guards run the main gate. Your guards run the basement. A client guard tells your basement guard to open the shutter for an unknown van.

There is no single right answer. Check that every post stays covered, that each guard has one clear boss, and that your manager hears about problems early.

Key points

• As supervisor you answer for every post and every guard on your shift.
• Each guard should have one boss on duty. Requests from client staff come through you.
• When orders clash: safety and written orders first, ask the person to wait, call the supervisor.
• Span of control depends on distance, communication, the site and experience. Tell your manager with facts if it is too wide.
• Plan before the shift. Brief every guard. Check understanding with questions, not "Any doubts?"
• Walk every reliever through the post. Check on them in the first hour.
• Work through another agency's supervisor, not around them.
• Odd jobs take guards off their posts. Record repeated requests and pass them up.

Conclusion

You have completed this module. You now know how the chain of command works, how to plan and brief a shift, how to settle in relievers, and how to protect your posts from odd jobs.

The next module looks at writing post orders and site instructions that guards can actually follow.

Complete the Learning Check for this module before you move on.