Guides for managers

Guide for managers

Health and safety for security companies: what the law requires

Guards often work alone, at night and where violence may occur. That makes the requirements of the Working Environment Act especially important. Here is what the management of a security company must have in place – and how health and safety in Vekterlogg covers it.

This is guidance, not legal advice. The rules can change – always check the sources at the bottom, and ask a lawyer, the Labour Inspection Authority or the police if in doubt.

Internal control: in writing and systematic

The employer must work systematically on health and safety together with the employees (Working Environment Act § 3-1). The Internal Control Regulations § 5 say what that means, and these must be in writing: the goals, who is responsible for what, the mapping of hazards with a risk assessment and measures, the routines for detecting and correcting deviations, and a regular review that it all works.

In Vekterlogg: customer portal → HSE → Overview shows the internal control point by point – green, yellow or red – and the annual wheel with the yearly review, the drills and the visits from the occupational health service.

Risk assessment – also for violence and threats

The risk assessment must be in writing, kept up to date and done together with the employees, and the safety representative must be consulted. Where violence and threats may occur, that risk must be mapped and assessed specifically, and the employees must get information and training.

In Vekterlogg: a risk assessment per location with a matrix for likelihood and consequence. The proposal is made from the reports – use of force, aggressive guests, first aid, fire alarms and health and safety deviations over the last 12 months. The measures get a person responsible and a deadline, and the approved version is kept.

Deviations that get followed up

There must be routines to detect, correct and prevent breaches of the requirements. The Labour Inspection Authority asks employers to record every incident of violence and threats in the deviation system.

In Vekterlogg: the guards tap "Report deviation" – with their name or anonymously – and internal and incident reports about injury to or violence against guards become deviations by themselves. Management sets the cause and measures with a person responsible and a deadline, the person responsible gets a reminder before the deadline, and the action plan gathers all the measures.

Injury register and notice of serious injury

All personal injuries at work must be recorded, and the register must be available to the Labour Inspection Authority, the safety representative, the occupational health service and the working environment committee (Working Environment Act § 5-1). In case of serious injury, the Labour Inspection Authority and the police must be notified immediately (§ 5-2).

In Vekterlogg: the injury register with the H-value (injuries with absence per million hours worked), as a PDF without descriptions or health details. A personal injury gets the box "Serious injury?" with the phone numbers and the text for the notice in Altinn, and the details for the injury report to NAV.

Safety representative, committee and inspections

The company must have a safety representative. With fewer than five employees you may agree in writing on another arrangement. The safety representative is elected for two years and must have at least 40 hours of training. With at least 30 employees you must have a working environment committee, and with 10 to 30 if one of the parties demands it. The law does not say how often safety inspections must take place, but the safety representative should carry out regular rounds in their area, and they are a common way to map the working environment.

In Vekterlogg: the roles with the safety area, the term and the 40-hour course, and what the law requires based on the number of employees. The safety inspection uses a checklist on site, and the findings go to the client or to health and safety. The safety representative sees the deviations in their area and is told about injuries and near misses.

Occupational health service

Private security services are on the list of industries that must be connected to an approved occupational health service (Regulations concerning organisation, management and employee participation § 13-1).

In Vekterlogg: the occupational health service is listed under HSE → Organisation and in Contacts, and is a point in the internal control.

Whistleblowing and the health and safety documents

With at least five employees you must have written routines for internal whistleblowing (Working Environment Act § 2 A-6). And the employees must know the health and safety work and have enough knowledge to take part in it.

In Vekterlogg: whistleblowing in the app, also anonymously, with the routine you have written. The health and safety documents – with templates for violence and threats and working alone, among others – get "I have read and understood", and you see who is missing.

How Vekterlogg helps

  • Everything in one place: deviations, risk assessments, safety inspections, the injury register, the action plan, the annual wheel, the roles, whistleblowing and the documents are in customer portal → HSE.
  • The guards never write anything twice: the reports they already write become deviations when they concern injury, violence or threats.
  • Reminders: the deadlines for measures, safety inspections and the review of documents arrive as notifications on the phone.
  • Only for the security company: the venue's staff never see the deviations, the safety inspections or the whistleblowing.

Try Vekterlogg

The reports, the follow-up and health and safety in one app. Free to get started with one location.Try it free with one location, no commitment.

Get started for freeTry it freeBook a demo

Sources (in Norwegian)

Last checked 29 October 2026

Other guides