Security, safety and public service roles carry duties that are set by law and by registration, not only by the employer. Private security officers in South Africa work under PSIRA registration and a grading system, health and safety appointments come from the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and public service roles such as police and traffic officers hold statutory powers. This hub groups every security, safety and public service role covered on Duties.co.za.
Each role links to a dedicated page with full duties, daily tasks and CV wording. Use this page to find the correct guide, then read the detail there. For the framework behind all workplace roles, see the parent job duties guide.
Browse Security, Safety & Public Service Job Duties by Role
Browse by function. Security grades in particular describe registration level rather than a different job, so read them alongside the guarding duties.
Security Guarding and Grades
Guarding duties centre on access control, patrolling, observation and accurate incident recording. Grades A to E reflect PSIRA registration and the level of responsibility an officer may be posted to.
- Security Guard duties and responsibilities
- Security Officer duties and responsibilities
- Security Officers duties and responsibilities
- Security duties and responsibilities
- Guard duties and responsibilities
- Grade A Security duties and responsibilities
- Grade B Security duties and responsibilities
- Access Control Security Guard duties and responsibilities
- SOP Security Guard duties and responsibilities
- Designated Security duties and responsibilities
- STCW Designated Security duties and responsibilities
- Armed Response Officer duties and responsibilities
- Armed Response duties and responsibilities
Security Supervision and Management
Supervisory security roles are accountable for post coverage, officer conduct, client reporting and investigation of incidents on site.
- Security Supervisor duties and responsibilities
- Security Manager duties and responsibilities
Control Room and Monitoring
Control room duties are documentation-heavy. Operators are judged on response times, log accuracy and correct escalation rather than on physical intervention.
- Control Room Operator duties and responsibilities
- Control Room duties and responsibilities
- Security Control Room duties and responsibilities
Occupational Health and Safety
Health and safety duties in South Africa flow from the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations. Several of these roles exist only because of a written appointment, and both employers and employees carry defined duties under the Act.
- Safety Officer duties and responsibilities
- Health and Safety Officer duties and responsibilities
- Health and Safety duties and responsibilities
- Safety Representative duties and responsibilities
- Safety Health and Environment Representative duties and responsibilities
- Employees in Health and Safety duties and responsibilities
- First Aider duties and responsibilities
Public Service and Emergency Roles
These roles hold statutory powers and are governed by their own legislation and standing orders. The guides describe the ordinary duties of the role and are not a substitute for the official mandate.
- Police Officer duties and responsibilities
- Police duties and responsibilities
- Traffic Officer duties and responsibilities
- Traffic Warden duties and responsibilities
- Correctional Officer duties and responsibilities
- Firefighter duties and responsibilities
- Fire Fighter duties and responsibilities
Common Duties Across Security, Safety & Public Service Roles
Whatever the post, these accountabilities appear in nearly every job description in this cluster.
- Access and asset protection: controlling entry and exit, checking authorisation and protecting people and property on site.
- Patrol and observation: completing patrols to a set route and interval, and noticing and reporting what is out of place.
- Accurate recording: keeping occurrence books, incident reports and registers that will stand up in a disciplinary process or a court.
- Escalation: calling the right response at the right time rather than acting beyond the authority of the post.
- Emergency response: knowing evacuation, fire and medical procedures for the site and acting to a defined plan.
- Conduct and registration: maintaining the registration, licence or appointment that allows you to hold the post.
How Duties Change by Seniority and Workplace
Grade and Registration Set the Post
In private security, the grade an officer is registered at determines the posts they may be deployed to and the supervisory duties they may hold. A grade C officer and a grade A officer may both patrol, but the sites, the reporting and the responsibility differ. Registration status is a duty in itself: an officer must keep it current.
Appointment Creates Legal Duties
Health and safety representatives and safety officers hold duties that come from a written appointment under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. These duties sit alongside the employment contract and cannot be varied informally. Employees also have their own duties under the Act, regardless of job title.
Site Type Changes Everything Else
A residential estate, a shopping centre, a mine and a port each run different access, search and reporting regimes. Construction and mining add regulated safety duties on top. Always read the role page together with the site instructions and standing orders that apply to your post.
Popular Role Guides
- Security Guard duties and responsibilities: access control, patrolling, searching, occurrence book entries and incident escalation on a guarded site.
Further guides in this cluster, including security officer, safety officer and police officer duties, are being published in the current build and will be linked here as they go live.
Duties for CVs
Security and safety CVs are read for registration, site type and incident handling. State your grade or appointment, the kind of site you covered and what you were accountable for. Use the duties for a CV guide for the method, then adapt wording like this.
- Controlled access for a 400-unit residential estate, screening visitors and contractors and maintaining the visitor register.
- Completed hourly patrols across a 12-hectare industrial site and recorded all findings in the occurrence book.
- Monitored 48 CCTV cameras from a control room, escalating 30 to 40 verified incidents a month to armed response.
- Served as appointed health and safety representative for a 90-person department, conducting monthly inspections and closing findings.
Job Description and Employer Guidance
Security and safety job descriptions must state the registration or appointment required, the post and site, the shift pattern and, critically, the limits of the role’s authority. Being explicit about what an officer may not do, such as detaining a person or conducting a search beyond site policy, protects both the employee and the employer.
Use the job description duties and responsibilities guide for structure, then take the role content from the pages above. Where a duty is statutory or governed by registration, the legislation and the regulator take precedence over any general guide on this site.
Related Work Areas
- General work, warehouse and logistics duties: for gatehouse, yard and access roles on distribution sites.
- Admin and office duties: for reception and front-desk roles that share access control tasks.
- Job duties: the parent guide to duties, responsibilities and job descriptions.
How to Use These Duties Guides
Find your post above and read the role page in full. If your exact title is not listed, choose the closest role by the post you hold and the authority attached to it. In security especially, the site instruction is the operative document and the role guide is context.
Duties vary by employer, site and grade. Where a role is registered, appointed or holds statutory powers, follow the governing legislation, the regulator and your standing orders rather than a general guide.
Last reviewed: 1 September 2026