As a security guard, you will be responsible for the protection of people, property and information.

How do security guards protect people?

A large part of your job as a security guard may be to protect people. You do this in many ways, such as patrolling the site, finding hazards, and controlling who can enter the site. You may also be asked to escort employees, particularly if they are going to their cars late at night. It will be your job to look for anything that might cause a fire or an accident. It is important to make sure that employees are working safely so that no one is put in danger. Also, if a crowd gathers at your site, you may be the person who takes control to make sure that no one is hurt.

What do guards do to protect property?

One of your main responsibilities as a security guard is to protect property. In fact, sometimes you may be the only person on a site. This might happen in the case of a warehouse or yard where you are on duty at night to protect the area. Property can be damaged or stolen. Damage can happen in many ways. A fire can completely destroy a building if it isn’t detected very quickly. Floods or water damage can result from melting snow or frozen pipes. During your patrols you will see problems while they are still small and be able to report them quickly. Intruders can damage equipment or set fires. They may also steal things. Your presence will deter many intruders from coming onto the site and you can take action right away if someone does enter the site illegally.

How do security guards protect information?

Protection of information is becoming more important all the time with computers and new privacy laws. A big part of protecting information is knowing when it’s okay to talk about something and when it is not okay. Keeping secret things secret is called confidentiality. Part of your job is to protect information, so you don’t want to be the cause of an “information leak.” As a security guard you are placed in a position of trust and must always act in ways that keep that trust. Guards often carry keys and have access to areas that other people cannot enter. Because of your duties you will see and hear many things that you must keep secret or share only with certain members of the company or with others in the security department. It is very important that you do not talk about these things with other people.