Background checks and security measures, are of greater importance after the Sept. 11 attacks, and one local security company has seen an increase in business.
Secure Check, Inc., a Columbus-based pre-employment background screening company, has seen a 20 percent increase in business since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Tricia Smith, the president of the company. Since it opened its doors in 1996, the company has conducted about 350,000 background checks.
“No longer do employers only want to know if someone has a theft related or violent incident in their background,” Smith said. “They want to know if a person is who they say they are.”
Secure Check’s clients include local and national companies. Since Sept. 11, business has increased across the board, but mainly in the trucking and insurance industries, said Lori LeDuc, an employee of Secure Check, Inc.
Ohio is the only state to offer the electronic fingerprint check, which produces results in about 24 hours, as opposed to the four- to six-week waiting period necessary with former screening methods, LeDuc said.
Secure Check, Inc. checks records throughout all Ohio counties, and screen outside of Ohio when necessary. They can check almost everything including: criminal records; drug testing; driving records; social security traces; credit history reports and personality assessments.
Since Sept. 11, they have even had a demand for international background screening, LeDuc said.
“Employers should be aware of who they have working for them. If an employee or applicant is found to be using a false social security number and have a questionable past, employers may want to let the appropriate authorities know,” Smith said.
While Columbus businesses are tightening employment procedures, hiring security at Ohio State seems to have remained the same.
The University Police Department has always used internal investigative methods, similar to those of Secure Check, Inc., to check an officer’s record throughout Ohio before he or she is hired, said Chief Ron Michalec. The difference is the police department checks backgrounds themselves, rather than hiring a private company like Secure Check, Inc.
University Police have not been asked to do any sort of background checking on university employees other than police officers. However, Michalec said the University Police would check out potential employees if asked.
The Department of Employment Services at OSU does not do background checks on potential employees. Those safety measures are the responsibility of the individual departments.
Lynn Meninger of the Department of Chemistry said, some departments do not do any background checks, including hers. The departments of Student Affairs and Physical Activities do background screening, but they have not tightened any of these policies since the terrorist attacks.
“We believe our policies were effective before Sept. 11 and continue to be effective,” said David Rugless, coordinator of Workforce Development Initiative for Student Affairs and Resource and Facilities Management.
The department has always checked the police records of those hired to administration, professional, civil service and bargaining unit positions following the offer of a position, Rugless said.
In 1996, the department began using the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations to check police records. In February 2000, the process was upgraded to an instant computer check with many agencies, Rugless said.
“We’ve done (background checks) for five years,” said Jane Tucker, a human resources manager with the Physical Facilities. “We just wanted to make sure we were hiring worthy individuals.”
Tucker said they look for criminal convictions in Ohio and search outside if it is needed.
The Department of Physical Facilities also has not changed any of its procedures since Sept. 11. Because of recent budget constraints, the department has not been hiring as many people, Tucker said. The Department of Physical Facilities employs external skilled trade workers, such as electricians, plumbers, engineers, custodial workers and employees of environmental safety, who work on the OSU campus.
Student Affairs employs 1,000 full-time workers and 2,000 students in different divisions, including Resource and Facilities Management, Campus Activities and Residence Education.
“People are sending their children to college here, and we just want to make sure it is safe,” Tucker said.
