BS7858:2006 Employment Screening
Credit Check Services; ISO 9001:2008 Certified, a leading company specialising in BS 7858 screening
Employment Screening to support the British Standard BS 2006:2008 for the security sector
Employment Screening with Credit Check Services
The BS 7858:2006 standard for the security sector is maintained by the British Standards Institute (BSi). The standard has been designed for the screening of anyone employed to work within a security environment such as guarding, alarm installation & maintenance, and security surveillance.
There are some key factors contained within the BS 7858:2006 standard that employers need to be aware of.
The guiding principle is that employers should not employ anyone whose history is considered to be at risk in that the individual "would be unlikely to resist the opportunities for illicit gain" or they would be unlikely to resist "opportunities for creating any other breach of security, which such employment might offer".
The employment screening standard takes into consideration that no system of security screening can provide absolute certainty about an individual's integrity, however the onus is on the employer to take every endeavor to establish the integrity of its personnel.
The security screening process requires:
- Obtaining evidence of an individual's experience
- Obtaining evidence of an individual's background and character
- All data needs to be held to maintain confidentiality
- A separate screening file is required for each individual
- Verification of an individual's identity
- Verification of previous employment, education, or unemployment history
- Character references obtained (these cannot be family members or persons residing at the same address)
- Criminal records check (subject to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974)
- Financial background relating to any court judgments (eg CCJs) or bankruptcy
There are other factors to consider in the screening process, in particular verification of an gaps in employment, education, or unemployment, that are more than 28 days. Where gaps of more than 28 days exist these need to be verified in accordance with the standard.
As an employer there are exceptions where a non conformance identified can be accepted as a managed risk, one such example is any court judgments totaling a value in excess of £5,000. In such cases an appropriate executive of the organisation can sign to accept the risk. Where this happens a record needs to kept on the individual's screening file.
To find out more about our employment screening services:
Call us on 01992 719 234 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Or email us service@credit-check-services.co.uk