SECURITY PREMISES PROTECTION Knowing that your facilities are secure when outsourcing contracts is paramount.


Julius Rutherfoord & Co wants to see levels of security vetting improved across the professional cleaning industry, says Operations Director Chris Parkes.


Security is an issue that every business, large and small, must take seriously to protect people and reputation. Figures indicate organisations are making significant investment in security, including protection against cyber- crime, with UK firms spending £1.8bn a year, according to research from Point Topic.


Facilities managers play an essential role in ensuring the security of a building and must ensure that external contractors, such as their cleaning supplier, put security vetting first. While the best cleaning contractors are championing progressive attitudes to safety, general levels of security vetting need to be improved across the industry.


“Up to 40% of the previous


contractors’ staff has fraudulent or out-of-date documentation.”


The contractor’s staff, systems and technology should all be focused on ensuring an organisation is in safe hands. As well as the risk of theft or damage to property that can result from poor security vetting, there are other serious concerns around issues such as terrorism, and the personal safety of people in the building.


Legality of the workforce All staff, whether recruited directly or inherited through the Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) process, must have the legal right to work in the UK and pose no threat to your business.


The Home Office estimates as many as 900,000 people work illegally in Britain, many in the capital. There have even been cases of employers knowingly taking on illegal workers and seeking to exploit them. This is despite facing penalties of up to £5,000 for each illegal worker employed and even tougher penalties under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act.


Estates and FMs should check how thorough the cleaning provider’s recruitment procedures are, and what background identity checks are made. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks will only go so far, and are useless if the ID in question is fake. No-one should be able to work within a business without first providing photographic ID with a machine-readable zone (MRZ) so its validity can be checked.


Our use of passport scanning regularly helps us to identify and report illegal workers applying to work with us. During the initial security vetting of staff inherited through the TUPE process, it is frequently found that up to 40% of


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the previous contractors’ staff have fraudulent or out of date documentation. Technology enables fake passports or ID documents to be identified in seconds which means that clients can be guaranteed a 100% legal workforce.


The British Standard BS 7858:2012 is the recognised benchmark for performing candidate and employee screening within the UK and clients should be asking if their cleaning company are vetting to this level. Depending on the locations that you require your cleaner to access, facilities managers should also seek to establish whether cleaning operatives have been checked against the Children’s Barred List.


Are the right people doing the right job? Biometric time and attendance systems, whereby a person’s identification can be verified through unique physical attributes, such as their fingerprint or iris, offers the most advanced and reliable means of ensuring only the right personnel enter your premises. This also means facilities managers know that a professional service is delivered to specification, cost-effectively and securely.


If this all sounds a bit ‘Big Brother’, it is worth remembering that security vetting also helps to keep cleaning operatives themselves safe. Everyone has the right to work in secure environments, and anyone employing cleaning operatives has a duty of care to ensure they can work safely without the risk of physical harm. Understanding that security and safety are a two-way priority is essential to gain the highest level of service from your contract staff.


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