Security templates/Daily occurrence book
Daily occurrence book template for security sites
A daily occurrence book (DOB) is the running log of a security site: every occurrence, patrol, key movement and supervisor visit, in time order, written by whichever officer is on duty. This free template puts the occurrence log, patrol log and key log on one page per day, in PDF and Word.
Free, no sign-up. Every file has the blank form first and a filled-in worked example at the end. Edit the Word file to add your logo, site details and wording.
What a daily occurrence book page contains
One page per site per day keeps the book easy to audit. The header fixes the site, date, book and page number. The occurrence log takes every event in time order. The patrol log and key log sit on the same page, so an inspector sees the whole day without cross-referencing separate books.
- Site and date
- Occurrences
- Patrol log
- Key log
- Supervisor visit
US sites call the same record a security log book or patrol log. If your contract asks for a per-officer shift report instead, use the daily activity report template.
Rules for DOB entries
A DOB is only worth something as evidence if nobody can doubt when an entry was made. These rules are printed on every page of the template:
- Ink only, and the 24-hour clock.
- No blank lines between entries. Rule off unused space at the end of the shift.
- Never erase, overwrite or use correction fluid. Strike a mistake through with one line so it stays readable, then initial and time the correction.
- Never remove a page. Pages are numbered so a missing one is obvious.
- Give the incident report number in the Ref. column for anything that needed a full report.
- Supervisors sign the page on each visit, with the time.
From the worked example in the download:
| Time | Occurrence | Initials | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19:40 | Lift engineers (2) signed in. Permit 553. Lift 2. | AB | |
| 23:10 | Car alarm, car park B, white van. Owner not on site. Noted reg. on CCTV. | AB | |
| 01:05 | Patrol 2. Fire door F3 found open. Closed, no sign of entry. | AB | IR-088 |
Who expects a DOB: UK and US
In the UK the DOB is the usual site log on guarding contracts. The SIA ACS workbook guide names the daily occurrence book in its example contents for assignment instructions, next to patrols and supervisory visits. In the US the same log is required by the client contract or the post orders, and some clients ask for a DAR per officer instead.
In both countries, write the officer's licence number into the log at the start of each shift: the SIA licence number in the UK, the state guard card or registration number in the US. Initials alone do not identify a relief or agency officer months later.
Template preview
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The digital daily occurrence book
A paper DOB stays at the site, so the office reads it days later, if at all. COREDINATE, the guard tour system, keeps a digital daily occurrence book that fills itself: checkpoint scans with timestamps, incidents, shift start and end, the content of completed forms, and entering and leaving geofenced areas. Key handovers are logged with date, time and officer, so the key log is no longer a separate table. Supervisors and, if you choose, clients see entries as they are made.
Keep a paper DOB on site as the fallback for the day a phone fails. The template above works for that.
Frequently asked questions
What is a daily occurrence book in security?
A daily occurrence book (DOB) is the site's running log, kept by the officers on duty. It records every occurrence, patrol, visitor, key movement and supervisor visit in time order. US sites usually call it a security log book or patrol log.
What should be written in an occurrence book?
Start and end of each shift with the officer's name and licence number, every patrol with the checkpoints completed, visitors and contractors, keys issued and returned, alarms, faults, hazards, client instructions and every incident with its report number.
How do you correct a mistake in a daily occurrence book?
Strike the wrong entry through with a single line so it stays readable, then initial and time the correction. Never erase, overwrite, use correction fluid or remove a page.
Is a daily occurrence book a legal requirement in the UK?
The SIA ACS workbook guide lists the daily occurrence book among the example contents of assignment instructions. Whether it is required on a given site depends on the contract and the assignment instructions: if either names a DOB, keep one.
Can a daily occurrence book be digital?
Yes, if each entry carries the time it was made, cannot be changed afterwards without a trace, and can be searched and exported for the client or an inspector.
Run your occurrence book on the officer's phone
Order a free test kit and see the digital daily occurrence book fill itself from patrols and incidents, free for 14 days.
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