Ross Mann

State Mandated Background Checks,

JOB AID

I. Overview

This Job Aid was developed for a contractor who was awarded a contract to complete systems/infrastructure upgrades in over a dozen school buildings for a public school district in Pennsylvania. In order for the contractor’s tradesmen/field employee’s to work on site or even set foot in the building, several Federal and State background checks were required for all workers on site in order to assure the safety of the students.

• Audience: Professional Electricians, including Journeymen & Apprentices employed by a Lighting and Electrical Firm.

• Responsibilities: To provide concise instructions for obtaining criminal background checks from four separate agencies that are required by a school district in PA for all outside contractors setting foot in schools. Each of the background checks was issued by a separate authority or organization.

• Tools Used: GIMP for Graphic Design, PowerPoint for Designing Lessons.

II. The Problem

Each of the employees was called on to complete four separate background checks from four different agencies. As few had been called on to complete these checks before, they required succinct instructions to help complete them in short order as the project had been approved and was ready to move forward once a sufficient number of employees received their clearances and were cleared to start the project.

III. The Solution

As few of the employees had be called on to complete such clearances before and workers were rarely working at the same site at the same time, a succinct, asynchronous lesson was vital. I also determined that lengthy videos or online lessons/ VILT were not necessary to communicate the steps to complete what are relatively typical, mundane government forms. Each of the Background Checks (PA Child Abuse Clearance, FBI Criminal Background, PA Criminal Background) can be completed in a matter of minutes, but one must be familiar with the terminology, the providers and their agencies’ application processes.

IV. THE RESULTS

The tradesmen were thankful for more detailed guidance than the School District had initially provided, as some instructions were clearly outdated. The first half-dozen workers received their complete clearances from the state within 10 days, allowing the projects to proceed as initially scheduled once a sufficient number of workers were cleared to work on site. By the second week of the installation, several more electricians received their clearances and were approved to work on site, assuring the project could be completed on schedule before schools were scheduled to reopen for the following school year.