New employee orientation

One thing that we often forget is new employee orientation. It is critical to get new employees off on the right path. No matter the type of position, an orientation must be conducted. There is one thing for sure, benefits will be discussed with all new employees—why not safety The following is a list of those who are often overlooked  

This needs assessment will help you understand where there are opportunities for improvements that can be incorporated into your management system. It will help you design a program that is geared toward reinforcing the positive aspects of safety and changing the negative [1]. 

Specific hazards that employees need to know about should be identified through site safety surveys, change analysis, and job hazard analysis as discussed in Chapter 15. Incident records may reveal additional hazards and the need for training. In addition, near-miss reports, maintenance requests, and employee suggestions may uncover still other hazards requiring employee training. 

In larger organizations that have extensive training needs, more formalized training may be required. In either case, five basic principles should guide your training program  

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Presenting initial GXP training during new employee orientation... 

How do you address key development and training needs, including diversity training, management/leadership development, new employee orientation, and safety, as appropriate ... 

Create (or improve) an inclusive new employee orientation process that provides a comprehensive understanding of relevant role, task, and relationship expectations. Make transparent your leadership style and vision for the team. 

Use of interactive educational formats available to the worlforce for developing cultural competence. Educational dialogues and presentations that take place at new-employee orientations, conferences, department-specific presentations, grand rounds, and other venues can include discussion of cultural and linguistic factors in health care disparities, effects of cultural differences on the care encounter, and effective communication across languages and cultures (B. Kalanj, M. Khalif, and T. Culbert, personal communications, 2003). 

To ensure that all employees understand the incident reporting requirements and are aware of their own and others responsibilities, annual training sessions must be held with all employees to review procedures and responsibilities. New employee orientation training should include information on incident reporting and procedures. 

You want to include the written policy statement in all new-employee orientation. In addition, make sure to post a signed policy statement on the employee information bulletin boards. You can also communicate your safety policy by adding it to your company letterhead and/or posting your policy on the company s Web site, if you have one. This is an added value to the safety in your organization [2]. 

Anything can become an objective—from investigating incidents to developing a new employee orientation program. You must decide the activities that are more important for your management system to work, and the ones that will help you create an effective safety management system. The objectives you select must be consistent with your basic safety policy. Objectives should be part of the normal operations of your company, and not special projects added onto the normal workload [2]. They must be integrated into your business as we discussed. 

New employee orientation includes applicable safety information. Workplace safety policy is understood by employees. 

Employees should be trained before being exposed to any new hazard. Examples of appropriate times to train include new employee orientation, change of job assignment, and new equipment, materials, or procedures. Strong training documentation is necessary that certifies employee understanding, abilities, and skills. 

During new-employee orientation, employees should be told that they are not only empowered to report any accident they witness, it is also their duty. It should also be emphasized that the purpose of an investigation is to discover cause-and-effect relationships in the accident and to develop corrective actions. The purpose is not to assign blame but to determine how to improve system operation and reduce the chance for further errors. 

This instruction can be provided via new employee orientation, an employee handbook, or safety meetings. 

Number/Percent of employees receiving new employee orientation training. 

You need to establish clear, simple terms for all facility or companywide employees that establish the type of conduct expected and the t5q)es of conduct which are prohibited. Appropriate placement for these standards are in new employee orientation programs, training programs, and employee communications (newsletters, policies and procedures, etc.). 

Training should be available to all new employees, especially on first aid, equipment operation, and the utilit s safety policies before going to the field to work. The utilitys safety manual provides the foundation of the training, and new employees should be given the manual as part of a new employee orientation. The manual should be reviewed as part of the orientation. 

Another area that often needs management attention is employee orientation. In particular, supervisors should provide a formal orientation to employees new to their department. Too often supervisors underestimate the importance of providing clear instruction about safety practices such as proper lifting or cutting techniques in the context of a new employee s job. The ideal orientation should include a new employee orientation checklist and an introduction to the behavioral process to help ensure new employees learn about the hazards in their areas. 

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