SECURITY professionals in Britain are dying 20 years younger than the national average, new figures published by GMB today have revealed.

A new study undertaken by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the union found that the mean age of death of people aged 20 and over working in security professions is 61.9 years, almost 20 years below the British average of 81.4.

That means that security professionals who put their lives on the line during terror attacks and other emergency situations have a lower life expectancy than people born in Afghanistan or Iraq, which GMB blasted as “absolutely shocking.”

The union demanded greater recognition of the “enormous responsibilities” of “potentially traumatic” security work, adding that it was too often unfairly seen as “an unskilled profession.”

GMB called on the employers of security professionals to work with the union and its members to help workers deal with “the stress, mental health and other related health issues” the job can cause.

The study revealed that the top three leading causes of death in security professionals in England and Wales are coronary heart disease, malignant tumours, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

An official estimate by the ONS revealed that, between 2014 and 2016, the leading cause of death for 736 people working as a security guard or in related occupations was coronary heart disease.

A further 56 people in elementary security occupations, including wardens, bouncers and bailiffs, died largely as a result of coronary heart diseases, as did 81 people in protective service associate professions, which includes customs officers, security managers and coastguards.

The study found that the main cause of death for 499 security professionals was malignant tumours of the windpipe or lung over the same three-year period.

The ONS data also showed that 32 people aged between 20 and 29 working in the security professions died in that time.

In total, 4,136 people working as security guards or in related professions in England and Wales died between 2014 and 2016 and GMB national officer Roger Jenkins said it was time for the industry to take action.

He said: “It is absolutely shocking security professionals here in the UK have a lower life expectancy than people born in Afghanistan.

“These are the people we rely on, the first on the scene after atrocities like Westminster Bridge or the Manchester Arena.

“Despite the enormous responsibilities they have, there is a misconception in this country that security work is somehow an unskilled profession.

“What our security members need is more support in dealing with the stress, mental health and other related health issues that can often go hand in hand with this kind of potentially traumatic work.

“Security employers need to pledge to work with GMB to tackle this shameful problem.”

GMB members will discuss the shocking findings at the union’s 101st annual conference in Brighton, which starts on Monday June 4.