DBS Checks & Criminal Record Checks

Care Check is a leading umbrella body for the Disclosure and Barring Service and has been named one of the top 8 providers for criminal record checks in the UK.

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DBS Checks For Contractors And Maintenance Personnel

DBS Checks for Contractors and Maintenance Personnel

In what circumstances do contractors need a DBS Check?

In many circumstances, maintenance personnel and contractors may be asked to apply for a Basic, Standard or Enhanced DBS Check (you might also know these by their former name, CRB Checks). The level they need to apply for will always depend on what environment they are going to be working in. There has to be eligibility for the relevant check to make sure the application is legal.

DBS Eligibility for Contractors

Some organisations may wish to check all their staff as their own best practice, with no real legal requirement. If this is the case, they may ask for Basic level checks across their whole workforce. 

If the applicant is working in a hospital environment, they may need a Standard DBS Check.  An Enhanced DBS  would be required if a contractor is working within a school or care home. If the applicant is being checked against a higher level Enhanced DBS Check, they would need to be fulfilling a frequency criteria and going into the environment more than 3 times per month or at least once overnight. If a contractor is entering an establishment as a one off then a Basic DBS check is quite sufficient and all that should be required.

 

DBS Checks & Criminal Record Checks

Levels of DBS check and the environments they may be required for.

Basic DBS Check

Domestic households
Offices
Council Buildings
Airports and Docks

 

Standard DBS Checks

Prisons
Court and Judicial Buildings
Clinics
Hospitals

 

Enhanced DBS Checks with relevant workforce/barring list (Where frequency criteria applies)

Schools
Care Homes for Adults and/or Children
Children’s wards in hospitals

 

It is important for employers and organisations not to blanket check their staff on the basis they may come into contact with a vulnerable group or may enter an establishment where a vulnerable group is located. Each application must be submitted on a case by case basis. For example, if a company has 2 staff and one is working in a school and the other in a domestic property, the applicant working in the school could potentially have an Enhanced DBS Check with a childrens barring list check, but the applicant working in the domestic property would be able to have a Basic DBS Check. The organisation would then have to ensure that the relevant staff member worked on the relevant establishment. If a company/employer was to request an Enhanced DBS check on both staff members on the basis one may enter a school, it could be deemed unlawful.

Applying for a DBS Checks

Established for nearly 20 years, Care Check provide all three levels of DBS check and work with organisations and charities in every industry and sector. At Care Check we get back 90% of Basic DBS Checks within 24 hours (many the same day when submitted prior to 10am) 85% of Standard and Enhanced DBS checks back within 5 days, 5% within 24 hours end to end.

Registration and account setup if free and normally takes no longer than 5 minutes. Once registered you can start processing applicants immediately. For more information please contact Care Check on 0333 777 8575 or email info@carecheck.co.uk where one of the team will be happy to help and advise.

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