{"id":9508,"date":"2020-11-16T06:59:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T06:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/?p=9508"},"modified":"2022-01-13T08:19:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T08:19:39","slug":"bs7858-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/ar\/bs7858-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"BS7858:2019 – everything you need to know and more!"},"content":{"rendered":"
The recent update of the\u00a0BS7858\u00a0standard, \u201cScreening of Individuals Working in a Secure Environment \u2013 Code of Practice,\u201d places emphasis on the risk assessment of secure environment workers. The code focuses on the need for tighter controls over the pre-employment screening \u2013 and periodic re-screening \u2013 of individuals, who in their positions could potentially benefit from illicit personal gain, become compromised, or take advantage of other opportunities for creating breaches of confidentiality, trust or safety.<\/span><\/p>\n BS7858 stands for “Screening of Individuals Working in a Secure Environment \u2013 Code of Practice,” The BS7858 is a code of practice released by BSI (British Standards Institution), a business standards company which supports companies in achieving excellence within their field, and continuously boosting performance. Introduced in 2013, the standard was updated in September 2019 and is now considered to be the industry standard for all screening in employment, despite its original intention for use in security environments only. This code was meant to provide a critical security standard that guided employers on the screening process for security staff before offering full employment. However, the new update has widened the scope of this code.<\/span><\/p>\n This British Standard helps employers to screen personnel before they employ them. It gives best-practice recommendations, sets the standard for the\u00a0 screening of staff in an environment where the safety of people, goods or property is essential. This includes data security, sensitive and service contracts and confidential records. It can also be applied to situations where security screening is in the public\u2019s interest. It sets out all the requirements to conduct a screening process. It covers ancillary staff, acquisitions and transfers, and the security conditions of contractors and subcontractors. It also looks at information relating to the Rehabilitation of Offenders and Data Protection Acts. CRI Group is the first and only investigative research company in the Middle East to receive the certifications BS7858:2019<\/a> and BS102000:2013, Code of Practice for the Provision of Investigative Services from internationally recognised training and certification body BSI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The change of scope is possibly the biggest change of the standard. In the old document, the standard concerned the security sector only. However, the scope has been amended to allow organisations in all environments to adopt the standard when employee screening. And due to the current pandemic, this update is more significant than ever. There is a specific section of the standard that relates to risk management which states:\u00a0“An integral part of risk management is to provide a structured process for organisations to identify how objectives might be affected. It is used to analyse the risk in terms of consequences and their probabilities before the organisation decides what further action is required”.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n BS 7858:2019\u00a0lays out the scope of \u201cobtaining personal background information to enable organisations to make an informed decision, based on risk, on employing an individual in a secure environment.\u201d<\/em> Those workers include business owners, directors, partners, silent partners and shareholders holding more than 10% of the business; managers, area managers, department managers, screening managers and staff; installers and service crew; security personnel; and office supervisors and staff with access to customer and system records.<\/span><\/p>\n The amended guidelines of the standard put the onus on the organisation\u2019s top management to demonstrate that they are focused on the aspects of the business where the most risk lies, and the particular personnel roles that are involved within those risks areas. This is particularly important because, as the standard states, the \u201corganisation retains ultimate responsibility for an outsourced screening process and is required to review the completed screening file.\u201d<\/em> Risks assessment includes examining specific roles that involve financial tasks, data security, management of goods, property risks or any number of “people risks” such as roles with direct access to vulnerable adults and children.<\/span><\/p>\n To that end, management is charged with ensuring that the organisation has proper and adequate resources and infrastructure in place to manage the adequate vetting of high-risk personnel. Management is tasked with the response and that there is a firm commitment at the top level to manage and support the coordination required to execute the screening process. Finally, management is tasked with ensuring that such responsibilities are correctly assigned and communicated throughout the organisation. The guideline also eliminates from its original text in 2012, a requirement to produce character references as part of the screening process. This decision was based on the supposition that such references are now deemed as potentially weak and difficult to verify. <\/span>Managing risk effectively is essential to ensure businesses succeed and thrive in an environment of constant uncertainty.\u00a0ISO 31000 aims to simplify risk management into a set of clearly understandable and actionable guidelines, that should be straightforward to implement, regardless of the size, nature, or location of a business.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has affected virtually every business and economic sector worldwide, and depending on the global region, has hampered (on various levels) the ability to conduct proper and thorough background screening investigations. In the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, the countrywide lockdowns forced leaders to close sites and send their workforce home. Many are having to learn how to manged people working from home (WFH) or remotely for the first time. The previous concerns about productivity, privacy and protecting sensitive information only grew more with the practice of WFH. They highlighted the vital importance of pre-employment background screening and background investigations.\u00a0BS 7858:2019: the revised Standard for screening individuals working in secure environments offers a complete solution.<\/span><\/p>\n The revised\u00a0BS7858<\/strong> standard enables organisations to demonstrate a commitment to safeguarding their businesses, employees, customers and information utilising widely accepted methods that focus on risk assessment and top-down management involvement in the company’s employment policies and practices. In establishing policies and procedures around the standard, organisations can show that they place a high value on hiring individuals who possess integrity. Organisations can then task them with responsibilities designed to keep their co-workers, customers and information safe from the opposing forces that have become more prevalent in today’s ever-changing COVID-19 world. Find out more on how<\/a> yo<\/a>u<\/a> can mitigate employee risk during this pandemic with BS7858:2019.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat is BS7858?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Change of scope<\/span><\/h2>\n
BS7858:2019, a new way to mitigate employee risk during COVID-19<\/span><\/h2>\n
Playbook\u00a0BS7858:2019, everything you need to know and more!<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n