Ask most petrochemical plant customers, "What keeps you up at night?" and the answer will likely come back related to compliance. As government agencies pivot their roles from enforcement to compliance verification, new and modified regulations are being issued to the process safety management industry daily. The Industrial Safety Training Council (ISTC) was established in 1991 to help manage regulatory compliance for its 79 petrochemical owners. Over the years, it has consistently managed the highest standards of industrial compliance by strict adherence to contractor requirements, including social security verification, drug testing, training and background screening.
Today, with a renewed emphasis on industrial workforce security, the standards for background screening are increasing to meet regulatory compliance. ISTC has recently partnered with EBI (Employment Background Investigations) of Baltimore to implement a comprehensive system for background verification that ensures proper verification, thorough investigation and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance.
ISTC's EBI background check starts with a Social Security trace revealing where an applicant has lived and any aliases used. This is the jumping off point for any reliable background check. Next, various national, statewide and county criminal record databases are searched. The difference between a "bad search" and a "good search" at this point is the follow-up. An EBI search will never simply use something reported directly from a database. EBI has U.S.-based researchers who double-check the record to make sure it is not only accurate but that it is actually your applicant's record and it is legal for you to know about it.
For a more complete look at potential job candidates, EBI background screening offers Education and Employment Verifications that let you know if your applicants really have the experience they claim. Motor vehicle checks, credit checks, healthcare sanction reports and others are also available. EBI works with ISTC's industrial customers to evaluate relevant business objectives and design a screening program specifically for a contractor workforce.
Compliance is critical. ISTC and all of its vendors are vetted through a dedicated team of compliance experts who continually monitor the legal landscape to ensure their screening program is in full compliance with the latest laws and FCRA regulations to protect industry from costly lawsuits. ISTC is committed to filling compliance gaps to improve industry safety and personnel surety. Background checks cannot prevent all violence in the workplace and can't guarantee every hire will be the best fit, but ISTC can go a long way in making sure you make the best hiring decisions possible.
For more information on EBI's background screenings, visit www. ISTC.net. For more information about industrial compliance best practices and ISTC, contact George Perrett, vice president of market development, at (409) 527-3309. â¢
