5.4 Natural Hazards, Hazardous Materials & Major Incidents

Recognize without becoming exposed

A guard may be first to notice an odor, vapor cloud, leaking container, placard, dead vegetation, multiple ill people, rising water, structural cracking, power failure, or violent event. Recognition does not make the guard a hazardous-material technician, rescue specialist, electrician, or tactical officer. Stop at a safe distance, move uphill, upwind, and upstream when those directions reduce exposure, isolate the area, call 911, and consult the emergency plan. Do not smell, touch, taste, collect, or clean an unknown material.

Give responders the exact location, visible container or placard information observed safely, wind or water direction, symptoms, fire or reaction, people exposed, and access route. Safety data sheets and facility contacts can help, but do not delay emergency notification while searching for paperwork. If contamination may have occurred, avoid spreading it into clean areas and follow dispatcher or hazmat instructions.

Severe weather and natural hazards

Protective action is hazard-specific:

Modern emergency guidance does not recommend standing in a doorway during an earthquake; ordinary doorways are not necessarily stronger and may expose a person to swinging doors or debris. After shaking, do not use a damaged elevator, touch downed lines, ignite flames near suspected gas leaks, or reenter a damaged structure until cleared. Expect aftershocks.

Floodwater can conceal current, holes, contamination, and energized lines. A familiar road or shallow-looking surface is not proof of safety. Turn around and use the approved route. Keep barriers far enough back that approaching drivers can stop safely.

Utility and infrastructure failures

During a power loss, activate backup communications and lighting, check critical alarms and controlled doors, protect elevator locations without attempting unauthorized rescue, and call the proper facility and emergency contacts. Do not enter electrical rooms or reset equipment unless specifically authorized and trained. A gas odor, hissing line, sparking equipment, or widespread illness may require evacuation and 911. Avoid switches, radios, flames, or engines where they may ignite a suspected flammable atmosphere.

Water failure, communications outage, cyber disruption, or access-control failure can create secondary security issues. Shift to manual accountability procedures in the continuity plan, verify instructions through approved channels, protect keys and paper records, and document degraded controls.

Violence and major incidents

For an active violent threat, immediately call 911 when possible and use the site's current emergency plan. People in danger generally need options based on location: move away from the attacker if a safe route exists, secure or hide from access when escape is unavailable, and defend life only as a last resort under the facts and law. A guard should not move occupants toward unverified gunfire, open a locked area to an unidentified voice, or leave a safe group to hunt a suspect. Relay descriptions, location, direction, weapons, injuries, and changes to police. Keep hands visible and follow officers' commands when they arrive.

Mass-casualty and public-safety command belongs to responding agencies. Preserve lanes and staging space, help with accountability and facility knowledge, and do not conflict with incident command. Media statements and family notifications go through designated officials.

Recovery and reporting

Record official alerts received, observations, protective actions, notifications, route or control failures, injured or missing people, responders, transfer of command, and reentry authorization. Preserve alarm, video, access, and communication records. Conduct no unauthorized cleanup or evidence collection.

Use recognize—isolate—notify—protect—support. The best action often looks restrained because it prevents one unknown hazard from producing additional victims.

Reliable warnings

Use official weather and emergency notifications rather than forwarding an unverified post. Note the alert's affected area, timing, protective instruction, and update source. When conditions change faster than a routine message, report the direct observation through the emergency chain. Never treat an expired warning as current merely because it remains visible on a feed.