Why Should Commercial Cleaning Companies DBS Check Their Staff?

In the United Kingdom, DBS Checks or Disclosure and Barring Services is a criminal background check framework that allows employers to make better recruitment decisions. Commercial cleaning companies, with their wide range of presence in every sector, rely on DBS checks to ensure their workforce is reliable when they are working at clients’ sites.

In this article, we’ll discuss what DBS is and why commercial cleaning companies run this background check before hiring their staff.

What is a DBS Check?

DBS, or the Disclosure and Barring Service, is a background checking framework in the UK that helps employers make their final decision regarding hiring their workforce. Disclosure and Barring Service Checks reveal past criminal records and offences of a person. Details on the DBS certificate help commercial cleaning companies recruit the right person for the right job and are required by almost all clients who are going to sign a cleaning contract.

Employers can run DBS Checks before recruiting a cleaner or staff and issue a DBS certificate that highlights the person’s background, criminal records and offences.

Types or Levels of DBS Check

There are four types of levels of DBS Checks. Employers can issue any of these DBS certificates depending on the type of job they are recruiting for.

1. Basic DBS Check: A general type of DBS check suitable for any employment purposes. Basic DBS certificates include details of unspent convictions and conditional cautions.
2. Standard DBS Check: This certificate is suitable for roles like a security guard and details spent and unspent conditions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer.
3. Enhanced DBS Check: This certificate is essential for people working with children, with adults receiving healthcare or personal care and caretakers. Enhanced DBS details the information in Standards DBS Checks, plus non-conviction information help by relevant police forces. Only recruitment organisations and employers can issue Enhanced DBS certificates.
4. Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS Check: This is the most comprehensive background check, which details similar information on Enhanced DBS plus records of one or both Barred Lists. This certificate too can only be issued by employers.

Commercial cleaning contractors should run an Enhanced DBS Check, usually every year. In some cases, their clients may require Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS Check.

Importance of Running DBS Checks

Enhanced DBS Check is an essential part of recruitment for the commercial cleaning industry. Any reliable commercial cleaning contractor issues a DBS certificate to hire reliable staff and prevent potential issues in the future.

There are several reasons why running DBS Checks is important. The following reasons are the most important ones.

#1 Reliability of Cleaning Services

Issuing a DBS certificate ensures that cleaning contractors know that the person they are recruiting is reliable and doesn’t have any serious criminal records. The details of the DBS certificate are important for contractors as they can make the right decisions, be it whether to hire them or send them to the right premises for cleaning.

#2 Preventing Workspace Accidents

Screening criminal records, like checking offences like violence or theft, is crucial for commercial cleaning contractors. Hiring decisions after running Enhanced DBS Checks significantly reduce workplace accidents and improve the company’s credibility and reputation.

#3 Client Confidence & Assurance

When it comes to hiring commercial cleaning companies, clients are looking for contractors who are committed to the reliability of service and staff and the security of the premises they are going to clean. Therefore, they see regular DBS checks as great assurance and due diligence in providing a more reliable service, leading to higher confidence and satisfaction in clients.

#4 Mandatory For Vulnerable Settings

There are many settings where Enhanced DBS Checks or Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS Checks are mandatory for cleaning contractors. Vulnerable and high-risk settings like schools, nurseries, senior houses or healthcare facilities require their cleaning contractor to ensure the person they send for cleaning doesn’t have any criminal or office records.

#5 Mandatory for Accessing Certain Areas

Other settings where Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS Checks are mandatory are spaces in which confidential and sensitive information and documents are being held, like banks, financial firms, tax offices and legal service firms.

In addition, businesses and establishments that have valuable items require cleaning contractors to send cleaners with no previous records. Museums, showrooms, designer retail stores and auction houses are among such establishments.

Read More: Cleaning Practices for Highly Secure Office Spaces

Conclusion

One of the most important requirements for commercial cleaning companies is to run DBS checks. A DBS certificate helps cleaning contractors make better decisions when hiring new staff and sending them to different sites for cleaning. In this article, we explored DBS Check, its different levels and its importance for the commercial cleaning industry.

The information provided by this article can help cleaning contractors and businesses looking for cleaning services realise the importance of DBS certificates.