PAS 97:2021

This standard PAS 97:2021 Mail screening and security. Specification is classified in these ICS categories:

• 13.310 Protection against crime

This PAS specifies requirements and gives recommendations for mail screening, set in the broader context of postal security. It is intended for use by those responsible for planning, delivering or procuring mail handling and screening services within organizations, as well as commercial providers of such services.

It specifies measures to assist businesses and other organizations in identifying and minimizing the impact of items of mail that represent a threat, or could otherwise cause concern or disruption. It also addresses broader postal security measures aimed at ensuring all incoming, outgoing and internal mail streams are managed so as to minimize the risk of loss or theft of valuable or sensitive items or information.

This PAS concentrates on letters and small parcels entering the organization from any external source, including public/commercial postal services, by hand or by courier delivery.

Whilst many of the principles detailed in this PAS can also be applied to improving the security of other, larger-scale deliveries, these are not explicitly covered.

The security of electronic mail and associated IT systems is outside the scope of this PAS.

This PAS does not propose a single standard of postal security and screening. Instead, it sets out to assist organizations in assessing their particular level(s) of risk and selecting and implementing commensurate security measures whether onsite or offsite, delivered in-house or outsourced. A series of screening levels (1 to 5) is defined in terms of progressively more complex screening measures; this is complemented by a series of physical protection classes (A to D) that describe incremental physical protective measures for mail rooms and personnel.

NOTE Another factor contributing to the overall level of protection an organization derives from its postal security measures is the location of its mail facilities.