It seems that of the approximately 5,000 deaths in the period 2014-2016 of adults recorded as having worked as security guards, about one fifth are attributed to heart disease and about one tenth to cancer of the throat, bronchus or lung. I have no idea whether these proportions are unusual. But the average age at death is about 60 - and this is the number that shocks, being well below the national average of about 80.
Perhaps when the matter has been properly debated in the course of this week's annual congress at Brighton we will know more. Is it unhealthy lifestyle or unhealthy workstyle which is to blame? Maybe a lot of security guards are former soldiers or former policemen, which I would have thought were both heavy smoking occupations, certainly until recently. Maybe sitting around doing little or nothing for 90% of the working day while climbing up and down stairs for the other 10% is not the right way to keep fit. I have always thought that driving tower cranes was a rather unhealthy occupation for just that sort of reason.
Were things any better when large organisations - for example the Treasury and the National Gallery - employed (and looked after) their own security guards, rather than contracting the work out? I imagine that most if not all of the relevant data is freely available, so perhaps some eager trade union research person will find out.
Reference 1: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths.
Reference 2: https://www.gmb.org.uk/.
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