ACS Assessor Guide - Security Industry Authority

ACS Assessor GuideSection 4 – Criterion Specific Guidelines: Criteria 6Criteria 6 – PeopleAn SIA approved contractor develops and implements plans to ensureits people are suitably trained, developed and cared for.General:There is a requirement for all applicant organisations regardless of the number ofemployees to be compliant with: legislation licensing requirements screening proceduresOne of the key aims of the ACS is to transform the Security Industry and to makeit a career of choice. The way in which organisations within the Security Industrytreat and provide for their employees will be a major factor in achieving this aim.Fear of reprisals when disagreeing with ‘company line’ is not acceptable and it isthe role of the assessor to ensure that this is not prevalent in any applicantorganisation recommended for approval. This takes a high level of sensitivity andconfidentiality of behalf of the assessor.Not all HR policies and procedures will be documented in every applicantorganisation, especially small organisations. Where policies and procedures have adirect impact on employees, such as grievance, disciplinary and training it wouldbe expected that they were readily and easily available to all staff. Documentedpolicies and procedures are the preferred way and should be encouraged.Employees should be aware of the HR policies that impact them and the assessorshould check awareness.Note:1. Examples of the types of evidence the assessor may consider sufficient tomeet the ACS standard are given wherever possible.2. There are elements within this criterion which cover the legislativerequirements of conducting a business. It is not expected that the assessorwould be familiar with all of these aspects to enable an in-depth examination.It must be remembered that it is the responsibility of the applicantorganisation to provide a truthful assessment of their performance and theAssessors role is one of verification. As such the assessor should plan to asktargeted questions to elicit information about the applicant’s approaches.3. The assessor should familiarise themselves with the key points of some of thelegislative requirements. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skillsand Business Link websites (www.bis.gov.uk andwww.businesslink.gov.uk) provide a summary of the key points on all ofthe legislative requirements within the ACS Standard.115The contents of this publication are copyright ©2013 Security Industry Authority, all rights reserved. No part of the contents may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner.