Key takeaway
ShiftTracker has no BS 7858 failure rate data. Vetting files can stall on employment gaps of 31 days or more, missing references, unsigned consent and documents that do not match the application. Check each file against a written list before it goes to a client.
ShiftTracker has no BS 7858 failure rate data, so this guide gives no percentages. It is a practical checklist for the points where vetting files usually stall: employment history gaps, references that never arrive, consent that was never signed and documents that do not match the application. BS 7858:2019 is the British Standard for screening individuals who work in a secure environment, and BSI publishes the text. The current standard is a paid document, so this guide does not quote its clauses. Instead it uses ShiftTracker's own screening defaults: a five-year window, a 31-day gap threshold, one employment and two character references, and consent before any reference is sent. Use these settings to test your own process before a client or an auditor does. Each section opens with a direct answer, then sets out the steps to check it in practice, so a reader can act on the same day.
Is there published BS 7858 failure rate data?
No. ShiftTracker has not published BS 7858 failure rate figures, and this guide does not estimate them. Any percentage you see should name its source and method. Without that, treat it as opinion. The practical question is whether your own files would pass a review, and you can answer that with a file-by-file check.
A file-by-file check is more useful than a national figure. Take five recent screening files, from one site or one contract, and check each one against the pre-submission checklist below. Note every point where a file stalled and how long it took to resolve. That record tells you where your own process loses time.
What does BS 7858:2019 cover?
BS 7858:2019 is a code of practice for screening people who work in secure environments, where an insider could threaten data, assets or safety. The BSI product page describes it as giving recommendations for the screening of individuals working in a secure environment. It applies to security companies and to other organisations that screen staff in sensitive roles.
Read the standard itself for its clause-level requirements. Treat any summary, including this one, as a guide to the standard rather than a replacement for it. Your client contract may also set screening terms that go beyond the standard, so check both.
Which employment history gaps stall a file?
ShiftTracker treats any span of 31 days or more with no covering period as a gap that needs accounting for. Only time that no period covers counts as a gap. Record each job, education period, spell of unemployment, travel period and other period. The 31-day threshold is ShiftTracker's default, so confirm it against your client contract.
Most gaps come from missing dates rather than missing jobs. Ask applicants for the month and year each period started and ended. Ask for an explanation of any remaining gap in writing, and keep it on file with the record. An explanation written at the start costs far less time than a chase after a client has queried the file.
Why do references stall, and how do you chase them?
References stall when a referee cannot be reached, does not reply, or was never asked properly. ShiftTracker's defaults need one employment and two character references before a screening can be marked complete. Consent must be signed first, and the consent link works for 14 days.
Confirm the contact details for every referee at the start, including a named contact at each employer. Keep a dated record of each request and each reminder. The documentation describes Remind and Resend actions but does not state a reminder limit, so write your own chase schedule into your procedure and apply it to every file.
What should you check on identity and document records?
Check that the name on each document matches the application, that each document is in date, and that a named person has taken responsibility for checking it. ShiftTracker can hold employee documents with expiry dates and raise alerts before they lapse, so an expired document does not sit unnoticed in the file.
The document expiry alerts run a daily check. They warn 30 days and 7 days before expiry, and again on the day it expires. A document with no expiry date is never chased, so record an expiry date wherever the document has one.
How does the Screening tab show problems before submission?
The Screening tab shows a coverage timeline month by month across the vetting window. Each uncovered span of 31 days or more is listed below it. The tab also records the applicant's consent and the status of each reference. Use it to find problems while the file is still open, not after the file has gone to a client.
To start, open the employee's Screening tab, set the window end and choose a five- or ten-year period. For someone already working for you, set the window end to their original hire date so earlier jobs fall inside the window. Add each period, then mark the screening complete once the window is covered and the references are in. Agency officers follow the same steps, as set out in the officer screening guide.
The Screening tab: vetting window, coverage timeline and references.
Can unscreened staff still be rostered?
The documentation describes a Completed status and a Mark complete button. It does not describe blocking a roster assignment while screening is incomplete. Until a demo confirms otherwise, treat the screening status as a manual check before anyone works their first shift.
An Admin can override the consent gate if you hold signed paper consent. The override needs a reason of at least five characters, and the reason is recorded in the employee's history. Use overrides only where the paper consent exists and the reason would make sense to a client reading the file.
Pre-submission checklist
Run this list on every file before it goes to a client or auditor. Each item is a check you can carry out in the Screening tab or on paper. Tick an item only when you have seen the evidence for it, and record who ticked it and when.
The vetting window matches your procedure, and its end date is set correctly.
Every period covers the window, and no uncovered span of 31 days or more remains without an explanation.
Signed consent is on file before any reference request was sent.
One employment reference and two character references are received, or the gap in the file is explained.
The name on each document matches the application.
Every document with an expiry date is in date at the time of submission.
A named person has checked and signed off the file.
How we checked this
We checked the screening steps and defaults against ShiftTracker's documentation, including the Screening tab, the consent rules and the document expiry alerts. We checked the scope of BS 7858:2019 against the BSI product page. We could not read the full standard, so its clause-level requirements are not covered here.
Test the checklist on two or three real files, and confirm the open questions about deployment blocking and reminders in a demo. This is not legal advice. Confirm your screening obligations with your client contract and a qualified adviser.
