Safer Recruitment & Vetting Policy

For roles involving contact with children, vulnerable adults, or regulated activity (particularly in healthcare, education, and social care), RD1 applies enhanced vetting before a candidate is put forward or placed, consistent with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the requirements of the relevant vetting and barring schemes.

Depending on the role and sector, RD1's vetting can include:

• Identity verification;
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for roles in England and Wales, or Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme membership for roles in Scotland, at the level appropriate to the role (basic, standard, or enhanced, including barred list checks where the role involves regulated activity);
• Employment history and reference checks covering, as a minimum, the previous 3 years or as required by the sector/client;
• Professional registration checks (e.g. NMC, HCPC, GMC) where the role requires it; and
• Qualification verification where relevant to the role.

RD1 checks the currency of DBS/PVG certificates before placement and, where a client requires it, uses the DBS/PVG update service to confirm a certificate is still current rather than requesting a new check for every assignment.

Vetting records are retained in line with our Data Retention & Deletion Policy and are available to clients, on request, as evidence of compliance for their own safeguarding and audit purposes.

Where a DBS/PVG check, reference, or other vetting step raises a relevant conviction, caution, or concern, RD1 makes an individual risk assessment in line with its obligations, rather than an automatic exclusion, except where the role falls within a category legally barred to the individual.

The Directors are responsible for ensuring vetting procedures are applied consistently and kept current with sector and legislative requirements.