Through the door…ok, we asked for that. But on a more serious note, do you know who the individuals are entering your venue from third party contractors or staffing agencies? What are they there to do? And how are you getting them into the right places at the right times?

We know contractors present particular challenges. The timescales for employing them are often relatively short, and there is potential for security arrangements to be confused or overlooked due to sub-contracting. But on a busy event day you need temporary staff and volunteers to be able to do their job. You need to know who they area, that they are legally allowed to work, and aren’t suspected criminals or terrorists.

This is easier said than done when you’re working with multiple contractors and agencies. We’ve seen accreditation managers grappling with an inbox full of names on spreadsheets, manually uploading sets of data to badge printers, being given lists of people on paper for last minute changes and spending hours cropping photos that have been supplied in the wrong size.

So how do you make the accreditation of contractors easy?

Make your staff screening procedure clear from the outset.

It is important that contractors have the same level of pre-employment screening as permanent employees. Contracts should outline the type of checks required for each post and requirements cascaded to sub-contractors. Where pre-employment checks – or any other personnel security measures – are carried out by the contracting agency, a detailed account of the checks to be undertaken and the standards achieved must be incorporated into the contract. Furthermore, the process conducted by the contractor should be audited regularly.

Make it easy for your contractors to give you the right information.

Use accreditation software that will allow you to set up an account for each contractor or agency. Then assign a single administrator for each account who then has the ability and responsibility to import their staff data, send application invitations, update worker details, and control their own allocation of passes and zone restrictions. You want to be able to allocate a set number of passes per account and monitor their usage in real time. No more spreadsheets, de-duping or bits of paper. Just a single database that you can view anytime, on any device.

Define access zones and required documents for each type of attendee.

Define the different groups entering your venue (press, catering, VIPs, security, first aiders, players) and tag access zones against each group within your accreditation system, to keep people where they need to be. Define the documents you need to be able to approve applications (permits to work, ID photographs etc) and use a system that will allow applicants to upload the required information as part of the application process, and store it securely for review and reference.

Finally, issue accreditation badges to all temporary workers and stipulate that they must be worn at all times.

Read more about badge design and the information to include here. To keep staff moving efficiently around your venue, but ensuring restricted areas remain secure, scan badges at each access control point. Find an accreditation system that integrates with your existing access control solution, or use a mobile system for real-time scanning and approvals.