Are you a delivery driver? Has your employer asked you to do an enhanced DBS check?

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve had several enquiries from delivery drivers who’ve been asked by their employers to agree to an enhanced DBS check because they will be delivering to schools/care homes. The reasons often given by the employer for these types of check is that drivers will be delivering on a regular basis to these establishments and may have the opportunity to have unsupervised contact with a child or vulnerable adult. We’ve looked into this issue and sought further guidance from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

The criteria for an enhanced DBS check with a barring list check would be for those roles which involve regulated activity, for example healthcare professionals, social workers, teachers etc.

With regard to regulated activity and driving, the DBS state that the following roles would be considered to be regulated activity and would require an enhanced DBS check with barring:

Roles relating to adults

• Any driver or any assistant who transports an adult (including any carer) because of their age, illness or disability to or from places where they have received, or will be receiving, healthcare, relevant personal care or relevant social work for the purpose of enabling the adult to receive that healthcare, personal care of social work.
• Patient Transport Service drivers or assistants; Ambulance Technicians or Emergency Care Assistants.

Roles relating to children

• Driving a vehicle being used for conveying children and their carers or supervisors under a contract or similar arrangement when carried out by the same person frequently.

As can be seen from the above, a delivery driver does not fall under regulated activity. The majority of schools maintain appropriate safeguards by asking that deliveries avoid playtime and lunch periods when children might be generally unsupervised around the school grounds. Most schools would ensure that they provide someone appropriate to supervise a driver as he carries out his delivery duties.

The frequency of visits applies only to ‘teaching, training, caring or supervising’ children and are not duties that would be undertaken by a delivery driver. The driver’s role is to deliver goods not take responsibility for children in the school.

We’ve set out below a snapshot of the advice we received from the DBS.

Therefore we would suggest that if your employer asks you to have an enhanced DBS with barring check, you should challenge this through the DBS.

For more information

1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on our criminal record checks for employment section
2. Questions – If you have any questions about this, you can contact theHelpline
3. Policy – Read about the policy work we’re doing on this issue – Stopping unlawful/ineligible DBS checks