Hi
I carry out health & safety inductions for all new employees to our site (permanent & temporary). HR insist I do this on the day a person starts (my induction is general, then the employee gets department specific training in their work place).
Our company Work Instruction to cover this states each employee has to have this training, but it does not state when. I appreciate that to do this on their first day is beneficial, but is anyone aware of any legal or otherwise requirement of when these inductions need to be done?
It does sound like I'm griping, but sometimes I can do 1 induction a week, taking about an hour, & am looking to get a group of folks together to make better use of my time.
With thanks for your time,
Carol
Carol Hagan
5 Responses
Timing of Health and Safety Training
Dear Carol
In the UK The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires you to provide whatever information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of your employees.
This is expanded by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which identify situations where health and safety training is particularly important, eg when people start work, on exposure to new or increased risks and where existing skills may have become rusty or need updating.
The legislation says nothing too specific about when training should be provided because circumstances and risks do vary hugely from business to business and industry to industry.
The general requirement is that all employees must be given health and safety induction training when they start work, which should cover basics such as first aid and fire safety. There is also a requirement for job specific health and safety training. You also have to provide further training if risks change, and refresher training when skills are not frequently used.
The key provisions say you must provide training during working hours and not at the expense of your employees. Note that special arrangements may be needed for part-timers or shift workers.
You need to assess the risks to your employees while they are at work and to any other people who may be affected by the way you conduct your business. This is so that you can identify the measures and timing of the interventions you need to make to comply with health and safety law, which includes training and the provision of information.
The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 and the Health and Safety(Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 require you to consult your employees, or their representatives, on health and safety issues. Representatives appointed under either of these sets of regulations may well have a view on the timescales that might be appropriate in the case of your business.
There are a number of other regulations which include specific health and safety training requirements, eg asbestos, diving and first aid.
For authoritative advice consult the Health and Safety Executive via: http://www.hse.gov.uk
I hope this helps.
Regards
A different solution ?
Hi Carol
Just a thought, but I have a number of clients who use either on-line or other computer based training resorces to cover their Induction to Health & Safety on their first day. Not only does it save the trainers’ time, but it can also be a really interesting and interactive way to cover the subject that helps the learner retain the key Health & Safety messages.
I do hope this helps and do feel free to drop me a line if you would like to explore the idea more.
Kind regards
Caroline Daniell
Client Services Manager
Ivy Learning Software plc
caroline.daniell@ivysoft.co.uk
Get the essentials out the way first
Our line managers are responsible for general induction of new staff, part of this on day one is a 15 minute run down of health and safety essentials (where is nearest first aid box, who is first aider, evacuation routes out of usual work location etc). This is documented by the inductee and signed off by the line manager. Further, detailed and job specific H+S induction content is covered through the rest of our induction week schedule by appropriate staff (H+S manager, HR etc).
Your comments are appreciated.
Thanks for responding on this one.
We do what Simon outlines on an employees first day – including my site H&S induction, then a department specific H&S induction with their supervisor/manager.
Will take on board all comments made.
Thanks again,
Carol
Health and Safety Induction
Hi Carol
We combine our health and safety induction within a normal induction program. This takes approixmately 8 hours over a 1 week period. The first day the site basics are normally given and then we drip feed new satrters with info on accidents, Coshh, Machinery etc over the following days. We also have a modular induction proigram which contains 12 modules which takes 15 minites permodule and is carried out over a 6 – 12 month period which gives more in depth infor on H&S, customer service and other soft skills.
Regards
Lissa