Documents are AI-assisted drafts and must be checked and approved by a competent person before use. Not legal or professional advice. Read the disclaimer
Guarding companies get asked for a RAMS that construction templates do not cover. A door, a vacant unit, a construction gatehouse or an event entrance has violence, lone working and keyholding risks that a 'slips and trips' sheet never mentions.
This sample is written for manned guarding, gatehouse duties, alarm response and event security. Controls are about deployment, withdrawal and reporting. It does not describe physical restraint techniques. The person who signs it should hold the right SIA knowledge for that deployment and should change the lone-working rules to match the actual site.
When to use it. New site take-on, a vacant property with keyholding, a construction gate, a retail door, or an event where stewards and door supervisors share a perimeter. Rewrite it when the crowd profile or the hours change.
The site, the shift pattern, and whether the officer is alone.
Violence from the public: withdrawal, reporting, and when not to intervene.
Keyholding and alarm response: check-calls, what a missed call means, and the limit of the response.
Lighting, slips, dogs, vehicles at the gate, and vacant or derelict interiors.
SIA licensing for the activity, and that a licence is not a method statement.
No instructions for restraint holds or pain compliance. This is a safety document.
Sample excerpt
From the security guarding base inside RamsBox. It is not a RAMS for a real address until you add the site.
Violence or threatened violence from a member of the public, a trespasser or an angry visitor. Who might be harmed: Security officers and people nearby
Deploy officers with current SIA licences in the correct sector, and brief them on this site's incident history.
Use conflict-management training: calm contact, clear instructions, and withdrawal. Do not chase people off site.
Confirm the assignment instruction: hours, duties, lone-working rules, keyholding, and who to call.
Check each officer's SIA licence and that radios and phones work.
Walk the site in daylight where possible. Note lighting, exits, vehicle routes and any vacant areas.
Hazards and controls
Violence or threatened violence from a member of the public, a trespasser or an angry visitor
Who might be harmed: Security officers and people nearby
Initial 12 (High) · residual 6 (Medium)
Deploy officers with current SIA licences in the correct sector, and brief them on this site's incident history.
Use conflict-management training: calm contact, clear instructions, and withdrawal. Do not chase people off site.
Agree in the brief when to call the police. Officers are not expected to detain someone at personal risk.
Keep a duress method (radio code or phone) that does not rely on shouting.
Lone working on a vacant site, gatehouse night shift, or mobile patrol
Who might be harmed: The lone officer
Initial 12 (High) · residual 6 (Medium)
A check-call schedule is agreed, with a named person who acts if a call is missed.
Officers do not enter a building where there are signs someone is inside unlawfully. They observe from a safe place and call the police.
Lighting, a working phone, and a charged radio are checked at the start of the shift.
Keyholding and alarm response at night
Who might be harmed: The responding officer
Initial 12 (High) · residual 6 (Medium)
Keys are signed, not copied, and carried only for the sites on that rota.
On alarm, wait for police where the assignment instruction says so. Do not search a large building alone.
Stand down and record the outcome. Do not reset an alarm and leave if the cause is unknown and the building is not confirmed empty.
Crushing or surge at an event entrance or exit
Who might be harmed: Officers, guests, and people outside the cordon
Initial 8 (Medium) · residual 4 (Low)
Follow the event's crowd plan. Officers do not block an exit to 'hold the line' if people need to leave.
Radio the event control if density builds. Pause entry rather than pushing a crowd back.
Know where medical cover is and how to call it.
Conflict during a search, refusal, or ejection
Who might be harmed: Officers and the person being refused entry
Initial 9 (Medium) · residual 4 (Low)
Search only where the assignment and the law for that venue allow it, by a same-sex officer where the policy requires, and with a witness where practicable.
Refusal and ejection are calm and short. Once the person is off the premises, the task is over. Do not follow them.
Fatigue on long nights, and slips on dark sites
Who might be harmed: Security officers
Initial 9 (Medium) · residual 4 (Low)
Shifts stay within the working-time arrangements the company has set. No one starts a night shift already exhausted.
Torch and suitable footwear. Report unlit holes, ice and trailing cables before the site goes quiet.
Vehicle movements at a construction gate or yard
Who might be harmed: Officers, drivers, and pedestrians
Initial 12 (High) · residual 4 (Low)
A banksman role is separate from checking passes if both happen at once. Do not stand between a wagon and a gate.
Hi-vis, a marked pedestrian route, and a stop rule if drivers will not follow it.
Finding a suspicious item or a person in distress
Who might be harmed: Officers and the public
Initial 8 (Medium) · residual 4 (Low)
Do not touch or move a suspicious item. Clear people back and call the police on 999.
For a person who is hurt or appears seriously unwell, call 999 and the site first-aider. Stay with them if it is safe.
Relevant legislation and guidance
Only the UK sources kept for this trade. This is not legal advice, and RamsBox is not affiliated with HSE.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Employers and the self-employed must protect workers and others so far as is reasonably practicable.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The assessment must be suitable and sufficient, and the controls must be put in place.
Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022). PPE is the last resort in the hierarchy of control. It must be suitable, maintained, and provided to limb (b) workers as well as employees after the 2022 amendment.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. The responsible person reports specified injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences. This RAMS does not decide whether a report is due.
Private Security Industry Act 2001. Licensable security activities require the correct SIA licence. A licence is not itself a method statement.
BS 7499 Static site guarding and mobile patrol services. British Standard for the provision of static guarding and mobile patrols. Follow the current edition.
BS 7858 Screening of individuals working in a secure environment. British Standard for security screening of staff. Follow the current edition.
SIA Approved Contractor Scheme. Voluntary SIA scheme for approved contractors. It does not remove the duty to assess the actual deployment.
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Covers welfare, floors, lighting and a safe place of work where the regulations apply to the premises.
HSE INDG73 Working alone. HSE guide on lone working. A check-call is an arrangement, not a control that makes a dangerous entry safe.
HSE guidance on violence at work. HSE expects violence from members of the public to be assessed and controlled, including withdrawal and reporting.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Where this is construction work, the contractor plans, manages and monitors it. This RAMS does not replace a construction phase plan.
Sequence, tickets and PPE
Confirm the assignment instruction: hours, duties, lone-working rules, keyholding, and who to call. Hours, duties, lone-working and the check-call number are agreed before the officer is on their own.
Check each officer's SIA licence and that radios and phones work. SIA licence in date for each officer. Radios and phones tested on site.
Walk the site in daylight where possible. Note lighting, exits, vehicle routes and any vacant areas. Note lighting, exits, vehicle routes and vacant areas. Do this in daylight where the shift allows.
Brief the team, including the check-call times and the withdrawal rule. Check-call times and the withdrawal rule are said out loud, not left in the assignment pack.
Take over from the previous shift or the client, and log keys, incidents and incomplete issues. Log keys, open incidents and anything incomplete. Do not accept keys that are not on the list.
Carry out the duty: access control, patrols, or event positions, as assigned. Stay on the assigned duty. Do not add tasks that are not in the instruction.
On an incident, make people safe, call police or ambulance as needed, and write the log the same night. Make people safe, call police or ambulance if needed, and write the log the same shift.
Hand over in person where the rota allows. Return keys to the agreed store. Do not take them home. Hand over in person where the rota allows. Keys go back to the agreed store, not home.
SIA licence in date, in the sector this deployment needs: security guarding, door supervision, or public space surveillance (CCTV)
Conflict management training current to the company standard
Site induction and assignment instructions read before the first shift
First aid where the assignment instruction says an officer provides it
Company uniform that identifies the officer as security
Safety boots or sturdy footwear agreed for the site
Hi-vis where vehicles, construction or a dark perimeter are part of the duty
Torch for night deployments
Weather clothing so officers are not driven inside and off the post
DRAFT - needs competent person review. A competent person still has to check the draft against the site.
Questions on security guarding RAMS
Is an SIA licence a control measure on its own?
No. The draft asks you to check the licence is in date and is the right sector (security guarding, door supervision, or CCTV as applicable) and then to brief the actual site hazards. A licence is not a method statement.
Can one officer do keyholding and alarm response alone?
The base template treats lone alarm response as a higher-risk task. It asks for a call-in procedure, a duress method, and a rule to wait for police rather than enter where there are signs of an intruder. A competent person decides if two officers are required.
Does this cover event security?
Yes, as a draft: crushing at entrances, ejection, vulnerable people, and coordination with the event medical plan. It is not a crowd-management design and it does not replace the event's own safety plan.
Is a RAMS a legal requirement for security guarding?
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies to the officer and to anyone affected by the deployment. Lone working and violence have to be assessed. A RAMS is the practical way to brief a static site or a keyholding run. An SIA licence does not replace that assessment.
Who should write a security RAMS?
The contract manager or supervisor who knows the assignment instructions, with the officer who will stand the site. It should match BS 7499 for the service being provided, and it should say what the officer does when a check-call is missed.
What is the difference between a risk assessment and a method statement for guarding?
The assessment names violence, lone working, the gate and the empty building. The method is the patrol or response order: book on, check-call times, how an alarm is approached, when to wait for the police, and how the keys are returned. One does not substitute for the other.
Can the RAMS tell an officer how to restrain someone?
No. RamsBox security drafts stay at site safety: withdrawal, reporting, lighting, check-calls and vehicle movements. Physical restraint tactics do not belong in the document.
AI-assisted draft. A competent person must review it and approve it for the site before use. RamsBox does not provide health and safety advice and is not affiliated with HSE.