Incident reporting software: your digital Daily Occurrence Book (security log) for commercial real estate 

What is a Daily Occurrence Book (DOB) — and why your security log needs to be digital

If you manage a shopping centre, mixed-use estate, office campus or transport hub, you’re already logging activities: patrols, alarms, slip-and-falls, contractor access, lost property, near misses, first aid, and more. Historically that’s all been captured in a paper Daily Occurrence Book (DOB), or more recently Excel.

Paper is familiar, until you need to search, audit, analyse or share what’s inside. Then it’s slow, tedious and error-prone. Excel, whilst searchable, is not the most user-friendly of tools and can be daunting to some users. This is where incident reporting software shines.

Kinexio’s Daily Occurrence Log (formally MyTAG security) replaces the old ring-binder with a secure, cloud system. Teams can report incidents in real time at the location (mobile) using add features such as NFC proof of presence (using Kinexio NFC tags), or retrospectively from the desktop, attach photos, CCTV grabs and documents, tag custom categories, and keep a complete chain of custody. Filters (by date, site, incident type, location or reporter) and dashboards help you spot patterns quickly; think heat maps for repeat hotspots and high-incident days for targeted resourcing.

There’s a compliance angle, too. UK private-security best practice expects you to retain clear site records. British Standard BS 7499 explicitly references keeping welfare-check records in a static site daily occurrence book or equivalent, including electronic records. That “or equivalent” is your green light for a digital DOB with robust audit trails.

At the same time, shoplifting offences hit a record high: the ONS recorded 530,643 offences in the year to March 2025, up 20% year-on-year. These aren’t victimless losses; they drive costs, operational friction and reputational risk across entire estates.

Zooming out to health & safety, the UK HSE’s latest figures show substantial burdens from workplace injuries and ill health, costing millions of lost working days. Even if your security team sits outside EHS, your estate leadership is looking for one source of truth to evidence what happened, when, and how you responded.

An incident reporting system that makes paper redundant

Paper DOBs break at exactly the moment you need them: when multiple teams, contractors and shifts must coordinate fast. Kinexio’s incident reporting software – digital DOB – gives you:

Security incident log features that speed response and reduce risk

• Smart routing & alerts: Notify the right team when certain incident types are logged (e.g., escalations for aggression or repeat hotspots).
• Attachments in context: Evidence lives with the record, no hunting for disconnected email threads or shared folders.
• Link related records: Tie a series of small events into one case to show escalation patterns or the effectiveness of interventions.
• One-click exports: Generate packs for law enforcement, insurers or legal teams with consistent formatting and redaction options.

• Standardise reporting across shifts and contractors so EHS and Security see the same picture.
• Trend analysis: Identify repeat locations, days and times; prioritise engineering fixes or staff deployment.
• Demonstrate due diligence in investigations and insurer discussions with clean, time-stamped records.

HSE’s headline statistics underscore why this matters: hundreds of thousands of non-fatal injuries and millions of lost days every year demand better prevention, powered by better data.

Compliance & standards: build an auditable record that aligns with BS 7499 and SIA ACS

If you work with Approved Contractors or in-house guarding teams, expectations are clear: maintain documented daily occurrence records. The SIA ACS guidance explicitly lists the daily occurrence book among core documentation, digital equivalents are acceptable, and frankly preferable, because they’re traceable and searchable. A cloud DOB turns “we think it’s in the book” into “here’s the exact record, timestamp and action trail.”

From data to decisions: dashboards, heat maps and high-incident day records

Logging is step one. Kinexio’s tailored reporting turns records into action:

Security reporting you can quantify

Security technology such as a digital DOB pays back in three lines: 

1. Time saved: Faster entry, zero double-keying, instant search.
2. Loss & liability reduction: Better evidence improves insurer outcomes; better insights reduce repeat incidents.
3. People safety: When incidents are trending up (as the BRC and ONS data show), faster, better-coordinated responses matter

An incident management example using Kinexio

1. Front-of-house logs a verbal abuse incident with an image and witness details; the system alerts a supervisor and flags repeat-offender patterns.
2. FM records a slip hazard, adds a photo and mitigation steps; EHS can later show the full control-measure timeline.
3. Security links three petty thefts at the same entrance across a fortnight; the heat map and time analysis support a targeted patrol.
4. Management exports a monthly pack with KPIs for the board and a separate evidence pack for an insurer.

FAQ

Is a digital DOB security compliant?

Yes. BS 7499 refers to a daily occurrence book “or equivalent,” explicitly noting that electronic records may be used. SIA ACS guidance likewise recognises DOBs in the core documentation set; a digital system that preserves integrity and traceability is superior for audits.

What about evidential quality for security auditing?

Kinexio maintains immutable time stamps and user trails. Attachments (images, PDFs, CCTV stills) are stored with the record so you can export a complete pack for police or insurers without “document drift.”

How does this help with rising retail crime?

When you can evidence every incident, identify hotspots, and demonstrate proactive measures, partners take you more seriously, and outcomes improve. The sector’s rise in violence and theft is exactly why robust logging and analytics are essential now.