Resources
Shift handoff log template (Word & Excel): a pass-down form both officers sign
The few minutes between one officer leaving and the next settling in decide what the new shift knows. This pass-down log puts that exchange on paper, so open items, key counts and expected visitors cross over with the post.
Printable template
Who writes the log, and at what point in the shift
The outgoing officer fills in most of the form near the end of the shift, while the details are fresh. The incoming officer reads it, walks through it with the outgoing officer, checks the counts and adds anything they notice on arrival. Both sign. If the relief arrives late, or the post sits empty for a stretch between shifts, that goes on the log too, with the times.
Our guide to shift handoffs and incident notes explains why the changeover matters. This page is the form that goes with it.
The parts of the pass-down log
- Officers and time: outgoing and incoming names, the post and the handoff time, showing exactly when responsibility changed hands.
- Open items: anything unfinished, such as a door waiting on a locksmith or a callback a tenant expects, with where it stands and who it is waiting on.
- Changes to post orders: new instructions since the last shift, who gave them, and the incoming officer’s initials.
- Keys and equipment count: keys, access cards, radios, the post phone and flashlights, with one column for each officer’s count so a gap stands out.
- Incidents this shift: a short line for each, pointing to the full incident report.
- People expected: visitors, vendors, deliveries or move-ins due on the coming shift.
- Hazards: wet floors, lights out, a sticking gate, barriers around a work area.
- Sign-off: both officers sign, and a supervisor initials when a count did not match.
Habits that make the handoff stick
At an office lobby desk, the changeover can happen with people waiting to sign in. At a gated community entrance, it can happen with cars in the lane. The log keeps the exchange from depending on whatever comes to mind in that moment.
- Count keys and equipment together, in person, instead of taking the last total on trust.
- Write open items as facts: what, where, since when and waiting on whom.
- Read instruction changes aloud and have the incoming officer initial them.
- Carry an item forward until someone closes it, and write down who did.
- Keep personal views about tenants, visitors or coworkers off the page.
What supervisors and managers learn from the logs
For a property manager, a run of pass-down logs answers one plain question: did anything get lost between shifts? An item carried across log after log is a repair nobody has made. A short key count gets caught on the shift it went missing, not a week later. Supervisors use the logs to confirm new instructions reached every shift, not just the one that heard them first.
On a Vantage on-site post, officers hold BSIS guard cards and are background-checked, and supervisors make quality inspections at posts. Lobby posts on our concierge and front desk service and gate posts for a gated community change over just the same way.
Changing the form to suit the post
In the Word copy, replace the equipment rows with your site’s actual key set and gear, so officers count against a fixed list rather than from memory. The Excel copy suits posts that keep their logs as files. A gated community might add a line for gate arm or call box faults; a lobby desk might add packages held for tenants. Keep both signatures: they are what turn a note into a handoff.
Starting a new post? Send us your post orders and this log, and we will build the changeover around them. Request a quote to begin.
A few useful answers
Common questions
What is a pass-down log in security work?
It is the written record that moves from one officer to the next at shift change. It lists open items, instruction changes, equipment counts and whatever the incoming officer should expect.
Do both officers need to sign the handoff form?
Yes. The outgoing officer signs for what they passed on, and the incoming officer signs for what they received and checked. Two signatures show the exchange took place.
What happens when the key count comes up short?
Both officers write the gap on the log, search the post and call the supervisor before the outgoing officer leaves. The missing item stays open on later logs until it turns up or is replaced.
How is the handoff log different from the DAR?
The DAR records the whole shift as it happens. The handoff log holds only what the next officer needs at changeover, and both officers sign it.