The stores cupboard
New guards are issued a uniform: jackets, shirts, trousers, hi-vis, epaulettes with their licence holder. Some sites also need a radio, a body-worn camera, a torch, a phone for patrol scanning, or a site-specific fleece with the client's logo. The operations assistant hands it over from the stores cupboard and writes it on a sheet, usually. Replacement items are handed out when a guard asks.
When a guard leaves, which in guarding can be at short notice, the office asks for the uniform back. Nobody is sure exactly what they were given. The radio from the retail site turns out to have been passed from one guard to another without anyone recording it. Six months later, the client asks where their body camera is, and three people each think someone else had it last.
Why kit tracking breaks down
Kit moves in several ways: from stores to guard, from guard to guard on site, from site to repair. Only the first is ever recorded, and on paper. With high turnover and site changes, the record falls behind within weeks.
- Issue is recorded on paper, if at all.
- Site kit such as radios and cameras is passed between guards at handover.
- Replacement items are not recorded against the guard.
- Leavers are not given a list of what to return.
- Client-owned kit is mixed in with your own.
What lost kit costs
Replacing uniforms, radios and cameras is a direct cost that adds up with turnover. Client-owned equipment that goes missing is an awkward conversation and may be recharged. Ex-guards with your uniform could be mistaken for your staff, which is a reputational risk. And site kit that is not where it should be, such as a faulty radio nobody reported, affects the service.
Whether you can deduct or recover the cost of unreturned kit is an employment question for your company and its advisers. We build the record of what was issued.
A kit register for guards and sites
- Every item type is set up: uniform items by size, radios, body cameras, phones and other devices, with serial numbers for anything valuable.
- When kit is issued, the operations assistant records it against the guard on a phone or tablet, and the guard signs on the screen. The guard gets a copy by email or text.
- Site kit, such as radios and cameras that stay on site, is recorded against the site. Guards scan or confirm it at handover with a quick check in their shift app.
- Replacements and swaps are recorded, with the old item's status: returned, damaged or lost.
- When a guard leaves, their leaver checklist lists exactly what they hold. Returns are ticked off and signed. Anything not returned is recorded for your follow-up process.
- Client-owned items are marked as such, so they are always accounted for separately.
- Stock levels in stores are updated with every issue and return, and low stock of common sizes is flagged.
| View | Useful for |
|---|---|
| Kit held by a guard | Leaver process and replacements |
| Kit at a site | Handover checks and client queries |
| Client-owned kit | Contract reviews and end of contract |
| Stores stock by size | Reordering before you run out |
A normal month with the register
New starters sign for their kit on a tablet in the office. At the retail site, the night guard confirms the radio and camera are present at handover. A guard who leaves at short notice gets a text listing what to return, and the office knows exactly what to expect. When the client asks about their body camera, the site record shows it with the serial number and its last handover check.
Stock of the common uniform sizes is reordered before new starters arrive, rather than after.
Is your kit disappearing?
- Kit is issued from stores with a paper sheet.
- Radios and cameras are passed between guards unrecorded.
- Leavers are not told exactly what to return.
- Client-owned kit is not tracked separately.
- You run out of common uniform sizes.