Travel to Work
Some prison establishments are situated in rural locations with limited public transport options, therefore a driving licence and own transport is beneficial but is not an essential requirement of the role (unless specified).
Please note that shift start and finish times are fixed and it is your responsibility to get to and from your place of work on time for the start of your shift. Please carefully consider the location of this vacancy and your transport options.
Life as an OSG
Your job can include:
- Gate duties – ensuring the secure entry and exit of staff, visitors, vehicles.
- Carrying out searches of staff, prisoners, visitors and vehicles.
- Walking around the prison site to escort vehicles and contractors.
- Issuing and collecting staff keys and radios.
- Patrolling and searching perimeter fence areas.
- Control room – operating the prison radio system and monitoring CCTV, ensuring all suspicious activities are reported.
- Visits – welcoming visitors on arrival and escorting them if needed.
- Correspondence – monitoring and logging mail coming into the prison, reporting contraband items, preserving evidence where needed.
- Night duties – ensuring cell doors are locked and all prisoners are safely accounted for.
- Reception – photographing prisoners, processing prisoners’ property and parcels coming into the prison.
- Prisoner supervision – sometimes supervising prisoners, exchanging clothing and property, helping prison officers escort prisoners around the prison.
- Food delivery – walking around the prison delivering and collecting food trollies, sometimes using an electric tug vehicle.
- Driving duties – collecting mail from the local sorting office, which may involve lifting heavy sacks.
- Phone calls – monitoring the prison\'s PIN phone system and maintaining the log of PIN phone requests from prisoners, completing relevant records.
- Procedures and protocol – understanding and conforming to national and local policies, responding appropriately to incidents and emergencies.
Requirements
- No qualifications are required.
- Good judgement, common sense, responsibility, and teamwork are essential.
- Must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English, or when specified in Wales, Welsh.
Contact Details:
HM Prison and Probation Service Recruitment Team
