Verity journal

When we go about our day, we often don’t realise that we are often putting our well-being and that of our loved ones in the hands of strangers by the services we engage.

Taking a bus? Well, there’s a story about a bus driver that rammed into vehicles while driving under the influence of drugs.

Sending your kids to kindergarten? Here’s a story about a kindergarten teacher exposed for having abused children.

As we can see from the news, there has been numerous reports which shows that a poorly chosen service could result in dangerous injuries or even death. It is hard to know if your security can be assured.

When engaging in services, who is ultimately responsible for safety?

On a national level, our government has put in place initiatives and are striving to improve screening for services like bus drivers and child carers. However, there is a limit to what the government can do from a policy perspective.

Looking at it from two other perspective, consumer of services should be entitled to their safety when they engage with service providers. And as for service providers, it should be their responsibility to ensure that they have gone through a rigorous process to ensure that the people they employ or the services they provide does not put their consumers in harm’s way.

Perhaps the service sector could take a page out of the financial industry’s playbook. For most financial services, especially those that adhere to guidelines provided by Bank Negara, policies such as the Fit & Proper Criteria, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Employee Screening Policy ensures that financial institutions have safeguards in place to ensure the financial safety and security of their customers by vetting its people. These policies could serve as a framework that can be adapted and applied into all types of service industries.

At the end of the day, the best preventive tool would be to have a strong employee screening process to ensure that service providers do not employ or retain people with problematic criminal and work histories.

Do you agree that companies providing services need to be more accountable for their platforms and the service providers they allow in it? Let us know. For more information about Verity Intelligence and employee screening, stay tuned to our website at verityintel.com.