Integrating Denied Party Screening with Visitor Management

Manufacturing plants and enterprise facilities have high volumes of people flowing through them. It takes strong care and management solutions to properly monitor whom you allow into your premises. Insufficient screening risks the safety of your employees and compromises compliance. For these reasons, adding a denied parties list to your visitor management system should be a top priority. 

What Are Denied Parties? 

A denied party is an entity that is banned from certain premises or activities. Organizations can create custom denied parties lists, although most use preexisting companies, organizations, or individuals put on official watchlists by US agencies or other governments. Official watchlists generally ban entities for national security or legal reasons. 

An individual or organization may be added to a denied parties list by engaging in unlawful practices. Some common watchlists include: 

• Terrorists & no-fly lists 
• Sex offenders 
• Individuals convicted of export trade violations 

It's extremely risky for organizations to allow denied parties into your facility or engage in business with them. In addition to facing penalties, you could be putting your organization, building, and employees at risk should watchlist parties enter your facility.

The Benefits of Denied Party Screening 

Screening denied parties lists enhances building and visitor security. As such, an important feature of visitor management platforms is watchlist integration. Incorporating internal watchlists into your visitor registration system automatically screens each visitor against specified lists.   

Third-party watchlists allow you to automatically detect when a visitor is a threat to your organization. Denied parties are automatically flagged during attempted sign-ins, allowing you to control entries effectively. The system can perform automated actions while notifying individuals where manual action is necessary. This creates a diverse and rapid response with security actions like: 

• Deny visitor badge printing 
• Notify security officers and network administrators 
• Allow admins to deny access (if incorporated with access controls; this can be further automated with physical identity & access management software) 
• Send alerts 
• Create and store a digital log of the attempted entry 

The following are the benefits of screening denied parties list in more detail:  

1. Create Records of Visitor Privileges

Denied parties may be prohibited from certain privileges. For example, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) often suspends the export privileges of individuals or companies for violating any of the statutes described in 50 U.S. Code. § 4819.   

One may face partial or whole export privilege prohibition depending on the violation. Partial privilege prohibition bans a person from dealing with certain items, while whole privilege prohibition prevents a person from dealing in any exports.  

Screening visitors against denied parties list, the system automatically flags individuals with privilege prohibitions when entering your building. It is important to identify these individuals before entering a partnership or dealing with prohibited vendors or trade. Businesses that enter these partnerships, even unwittingly, could face penalties.  

Other ways to keep records of visitor privileges include establishing a cloud-based dashboard and having a searchable database where you can enter a few details, like the name of the visitor, to get all the information you need.   

2. Prevent Unwanted Visitors or Restricted Parties from Entering Your Office

Your specific industry and sector may determine the types of watchlists you should focus on. For example, defense manufacturers and exporters screen visitors against terrorist watchlists to enhance physical and data security. High-security industries like defense must perform these actions to maintain compliance with standards like ITAR.  

Educational institutions, on the other hand, may screen visitors against sexual offender lists to keep the learners safe. 

Other features you can utilize to prevent unwanted individuals from accessing your building include: 

	ID Verification Validate government-issued IDs or passports to identify visitors accurately.
	Taking Photos Your sign-in system can take photos of visitors for future records and ensures the person who signs in matches the person wearing the visitor badge.
	Access Control Customize access control settings through integration with visitor management software. Accept or deny access right from the dashboard.

3. Ensure Employee Safety

If you allow visitors to enter your offices without screening, you risk the safety of your employees. An outsider with ill intentions may enter your building to cause harm and chaos.  

Employees working during off-hours, like during night shifts, may especially feel vulnerable in the workplace. There are fewer people and less physical security on the premise. Your employees feel safer knowing that unauthorized persons can't access the building.   

Psychology studies show that workers who feel safe have greater productivity, trust, confidence, and creativity. A safe workforce means better workers.  

You can even add health screening with FeverCheck visitor temperature screening. A thermal camera scans visitors as they sign in, helping to identify possible health risks. You can also include questionnaires, such as the COVID screening questions, as a mandatory step during check-ins. 

How Denied Party Lists Relate to Visitor Management 

For denied party lists to be most effective, they should be integrated into your visitor management system (VMS). Here are two main reasons for this. 

1. Ensure Compliance with Company Policies

Companies are required to screen visitors against various watchlists as part of their compliance oversight. 

The list of parties that companies are required to check includes the Consolidated Screening List (CSL) as well as over 140 lists from these government agencies and departments: 

• Department of Homeland Security 
• Commerce Department 
• Treasury Department 
• State Department 
• Justice Department 
• Other Federal and State Agencies 

Failure to comply with these regulations exposes you to penalties such as heavy fines, denial of export privileges, and jail time. Insufficient visitor screening can significantly impact your business and limit your personal freedoms. 

2. Streamline Processes with Visitor Management Software Solutions 

Reception areas often receive many visitors, making it difficult to screen each guest manually. It's too easy for visitors to slip through the cracks or to miss filling important steps. This is why you need an advanced VMS — like iLobby's — to integrate internal and third-party watchlist databases. That way, you can screen any visitor against each list in seconds.  

An electronic visitor management system integrates screening into the sign-in process. This feature enhances security and data collection. The self-guided check-in makes it impossible to miss important steps, and the efficient sign-ins reduce the risks of heavy lobby traffic.  

Denied parties screening software also records all the comings and goings in your office. If your company is audited, you can provide details of all the screenings you've done and prove that you're doing your part to stay compliant. 

Protect Your Company, Employees, and Assets 

With denied parties screening integrated into your company's visitor management, you know who is in your building and can identify potential risks. 

Control who is in your workplace. For custom compliance and visitor management strategies, schedule your demo with iLobby today.