Identifying Workplace Hazards

The Six Hazard Categories

A security guard's worksite is rarely a single controlled environment. You may patrol offices, warehouses, construction sites, parking lots, healthcare facilities, and public spaces in the same week. Recognizing the six categories of workplace hazards lets you identify dangers before they injure you or others.

Quick Answer: Hazards come in six forms — physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, environmental, and violence/harassment. A hazard you do not recognize is a hazard that can injure you.

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Physical Hazards

Physical hazards are conditions of the workspace that can cause injury through force or contact:

• Slips, trips, and falls — wet floors, icy walkways, trailing cables, uneven surfaces, stair hazards
• Sharp objects — broken glass, exposed metal edges, discarded blades
• Machinery and equipment — moving parts, forklifts, overhead loads, pinch points

On patrol, scan for these and either correct them (cordon off a spill) or report them so the site can address them.

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Chemical Hazards

Chemical hazards include spills, fumes, and stored chemicals you may encounter during patrol or alarm response:

• Solvent or fuel spills in garages and loading docks
• Fumes from cleaning chemicals stored improperly
• Leaking containers in storage rooms

Do not attempt to clean up unknown chemicals. Isolate the area, ventilate if appropriate, and notify the site's trained personnel or the fire department.

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Biological Hazards

Biological hazards are among the most underestimated risks in security work. They include:

• Discarded needles and drug paraphernalia in stairwells, bathrooms, and parking areas
• Bloodborne pathogens — blood, vomit, or other body fluids from injuries, overdoses, or assaults
• Mould and sewage in flooded or poorly maintained areas

Never handle needles, paraphernalia, or body fluids bare-handed. Use appropriate PPE (gloves at minimum, face protection if splashing is possible), use tongs or a sharps container for needles, and follow the site's biohazard disposal procedure. If you are not trained and equipped for biohazard cleanup, contain the area and call trained personnel.

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Ergonomic Hazards

Ergonomic hazards arise from prolonged standing, repetitive patrolling on hard surfaces, lifting or carrying objects, and prolonged driving. They contribute to back, knee, and foot injuries that develop over time. Manage them with proper footwear, rotation of duties, and safe lifting technique — bend at the knees, keep the load close, and do not lift beyond your capacity.

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Environmental Hazards

Environmental hazards are conditions outside the building that affect your safety:

• Weather — extreme cold, heat, ice, lightning, poor visibility
• Lighting — unlit parking lots, blown bulbs, shadows that hide hazards and people
• Noise and traffic — vehicle traffic on patrol routes, equipment noise that masks radio calls

Dress for the weather, carry a flashlight, and use high-visibility PPE in traffic areas.

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Violence and Harassment

Violence and harassment are recognized workplace hazards in Alberta. Security guards are often the first point of contact for angry customers, intoxicated persons, domestic incidents that spill onto a client's property, and workplace harassment complaints. Treat any situation involving threats, intimidation, or actual violence as a safety issue, not just a customer-service issue, and follow the site's violence-prevention policy.

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Reporting Hazards Under Alberta OHS

Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) framework requires that workers report hazards they observe, and that employers address them. For a security guard, this means:

• Report every identified hazard according to site policy — usually through a hazard/incident report form and direct notification of the site supervisor
• Document the hazard clearly: what, where, when, and what you did about it
• If a hazard poses an immediate danger, take reasonable interim action (cordon off, restrict access) and escalate at once
• OHS does not expect you to fix hazards outside your training; it expects you to recognize and report them

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WHMIS Awareness

The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is Canada's hazard-communication standard for chemical products. As a security guard you are not expected to be a chemical expert, but you should recognize:

• WHMIS labels on containers — pictograms (the red diamond symbols), signal words ("Danger" or "Warning"), and precautionary statements
• Safety Data Sheets (SDS) — the detailed reference documents kept at the worksite for each hazardous product; they tell you what the product is, its hazards, and how to respond to a spill or exposure
• The location of the SDS binder or digital access at each site you work

If you encounter a spill of an unknown labelled product, the label and the SDS are your starting point for understanding the risk. If you cannot identify it, isolate the area and call trained personnel or the fire department.

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A Practical Example

On a parking-lot patrol you find a discarded needle beside a vehicle, a spilled liquid near a dumpster, and a broken light above the stairwell. Three hazard categories — biological, chemical, and environmental — in one patrol. You: do not touch the needle (report it for biohazard cleanup), isolate the spill and check the container label (or call trained personnel), and report the broken light. Each is documented and escalated according to site policy and Alberta OHS expectations.