6.7 Occupational Health and Safety induction and training
It has become widely accepted that the safety of employees new to a job or workplace is at its most vulnerable in their first weeks. This has led to a strong emphasis being placed on induction programs addressing job and workplace OH&S systems.
Irrespective of the type of job or workplace, induction checklists will usually require a person:
- Before their arrival at the workplace (pre-employment safety information pack)
- Receive information on safety procedures and policies
- Receive any manuals or instructions with respect to ergonomic or special clothing requirements
- Be given access to any additional reading or legislation, advice from relevant agencies
- On arrival for the first day of work at the workplace or new job
- Be coached in the importance of the information on safety procedures, policies and practices outlined in the pre-employment safety information pack.
- Be physically instructed on signage and the hazards present at the worksite
- Be introduced to relevant personnel or contact officers with regards to OH&S matters
- Be trained in and given resources relevant to OH&S ('induction safety training pack')
- Be given follow up assessment (especially to test written understanding and observed performance). This should occur in the ensuing days after the first day's induction training to ensure that skills and knowledge are being applied correctly.
Safety training on induction can take many forms. For examples of courses and resources go to
http://www.whs.qld.gov.au/trainingcert/induction1.pdf
http://www.workcover.act.gov.au/actsafe/education.cfm or resources at
http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/node/multimediare.htm .
The National Occupational Health and Safety Commission in Australia also has an extensive list of resources for organising health and safety training for a workplace and training resource kits for key legislative obligations of employers and supervisors ( http://www.nohsc.gov.au/O
HSInformation/EducationandTraining/edtmw3.htm#req ).
The need to ensure that team members are adequately trained in OH&S issues during induction, and as an on going exercise after induction, is of paramount importance to frontline managers. Training ensures that employees are aware of OH&S issues and are able to deal with them effectively when they arise. The difficulty for managers is that not everyone learns at the same rate, or remembers the same information. Therefore it is an ongoing task for supervisors and managers to update and continue training of staff. This section examines the means of identifying the training requirements of team members and arranging for that training to be implemented.
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