The book on the desk in the gatehouse
Every site has one: a hardback daily occurrence book on the gatehouse desk. Guards write in it at the start and end of each shift and whenever something happens. Deliveries after hours. A contractor signed in late. The fire alarm test. A van parked by the gate for an hour. Keys handed over. The handwriting varies from neat to illegible, and entries are sometimes written up at the end of the shift from memory.
The client's site manager occasionally flicks through it. The supervisor reads it on site visits. When the client emails to ask what happened on Saturday night, the account manager has to phone the site and ask the guard on duty to photograph the page and send it over WhatsApp. When the book is full, it goes in a box, somewhere.
Why the paper book is a blind spot
The occurrence book is the guard's main record of the shift, and it is the one record nobody away from the site can see. Everything in it has to be read in person or photographed. It cannot be searched, cannot alert anyone and cannot be shared easily with the client.
| Need | With a paper book | With a digital log |
|---|---|---|
| Supervisor reads last night's entries | On the next site visit | From the office in the morning |
| Client asks about Saturday night | Phone the site for a photo | Share the entries |
| Find every late delivery this month | Read every page | Search or filter |
| Know when an entry was really written | Cannot tell | Timestamp recorded |
| Keep old books safe | Boxes in the office | Stored and backed up |
What the paper book costs you
Issues noted in the book are not acted on because nobody away from the site read it. Clients get slow, patchy answers to simple questions. Supervisors spend site visits reading rather than supervising. If there is an incident, the entries around it may matter a great deal, and a handwritten book written up after the fact is weaker evidence. And the book shows nothing about how good a guard's reporting is, so you cannot coach it.
A digital occurrence log on the guard's phone
- Each site has its own log, set up with the entry types the site uses: shift start, shift end, patrol, delivery, visitor, contractor, key issued, alarm, maintenance issue, and a general note.
- Guards pick the entry type on their phone and fill in a short form. Time and site are recorded automatically, and the guard can add a photo.
- Entries are written at the time, and any entry added later is marked with both the event time and the time it was written.
- Entry types you choose, such as a maintenance issue or an unusual vehicle, alert the supervisor or control room straight away.
- Supervisors read logs for all their sites from the office, and can comment or ask the guard to add detail.
- Clients can be given a view of their site's log, or a daily summary by email, with internal notes hidden.
- Logs are searchable across dates and entry types, and can be exported for a period when a client or investigator asks.
- Works offline on sites with poor signal, sending entries when it reconnects.
- Guards can dictate entries if typing is awkward.
- Handover notes carry from one shift to the next.
A normal shift with the digital log
The night guard books on and reads the day guard's handover note on his phone. At 11pm he logs a delivery that arrived outside the agreed hours, with a photo of the lorry. At 2am he logs a leaking pipe in the plant room, which alerts the supervisor and goes into the client's maintenance summary. In the morning the supervisor reads the logs for her sites over coffee. When the client asks about Saturday night, the account manager sends a link.
Some clients like to keep a paper book on site as well. Where they do, the digital log is the one you manage from, and the book becomes the client's copy.
Is your occurrence book still paper?
- Every site has a handwritten occurrence book.
- Supervisors only read it on site visits.
- Client questions mean phoning the site for a photo.
- Old books are in boxes and cannot be searched.
- You cannot tell when an entry was actually written.