DBS-supported partnership launches construction sector guide supporting safer recruitment

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has collaborated with the Better Hiring Institute on the launch of its new ‘Better Hiring Toolkit' provided for the construction industry. The toolkit works as an essential guide for construction sector employers to make better informed, safer recruitment decisions.

The toolkit represents collaborative working between safeguarding and industry experts at the Better Hiring Institute, the Disclosure and Barring Service, Reed Screening, Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) to set out accessible guidance, supporting employers by providing tailored guidance in safer and more effective recruitment.

The construction industry represents one of the most high-risk industries for employment, so the toolkit will set the benchmarks for organisations to assess their current policies and procedures against, ensuring that recruiting staff make their pre-employment checks fair and robust.

Effective pre-employment vetting is a crucial component of safer recruitment practices. DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions each year by processing and issuing DBS checks.

Conducting a Basic DBS check on an individual before hiring them can help to inform employers around job role suitability, strengthen recruitment decisions and protect an organisation's reputation. Implementing Basic checks in the construction industry in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act ensures that individuals with minor, unrelated convictions are not unfairly excluded from employment. Basic checks focus on relevant offences whilst promoting fair opportunities for those who have been rehabilitated. 

DBS also maintains the Adults' and Children's Barred Lists and makes considered decisions as to whether an individual should be included on one or both of these lists and barred from engaging in regulated activity.

Helen Chandler, Acting Associate Director of Business Development for the Disclosure and Barring Service, said: “The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions, and our collaboration with Better Hiring Institute represents important steps forward in supporting the construction industry in safeguarding best practice. We're pleased to be supporting the development of the free toolkit to ensure that recruitment across the sector is more effective and better informed.”