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How to properly safety-train new employees |
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Written by Fred Matthews
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 Over the last couple of columns in PEM, we established why having a competent workforce is important and defined how we start to establish worker competency by identifying selection criteria based on qualifications,
such as education, training and prior experience. The importance of
verifying a candidate’s credentials was also discussed as an important
component of ensuring that a new employee is indeed qualified for the
job.
Now that we’ve ensured this person meets minimum standards, we need to go about training that individual.
Some of you may ask: “If I’ve gone through all this trouble to ensure
that my new employee meets minimum standards, then why do I have to
train him? Shouldn’t he be adequately trained already?” While that may
be true to a certain extent, what we need to remember is that the
worker is still new. New to your company, new to your facility, new to
the specific tools and equipment your company operates and new to your
work procedures. This situation places your new employee at greater
risk for injury or illness.
When I had my consulting practice, I had the opportunity to witness a
multitude of different types of training practices. Some were quite
complicated and some were very simple. Some were very effective and
some had little effect at all. So what makes a good workplace training
program?
Let’s start out by stating that having a worker simply read a safe work
procedure or a work instruction does not constitute training.
Merriam-Webster defines training as the process necessary “to teach so
as to make fit, qualified, or proficient.” From this definition, we can
infer that training requires some interaction between a trainer and a
trainee. By referencing the word “proficient,” the definition also
implies the need for testing. Therefore, when we are talking about
workplace training, we are really talking about the imparting of
necessary skills or behaviors through instruction from a competent
person to ensure the safe and efficient completion of a task.
One of the best workplace training programs I ever witnessed was being
used in one of the most unlikely places I had ever expected to observe
it: a fast-food restaurant. Some time ago, I worked with a
multinational fast-food restaurant to help them make some improvements
to their health and safety management system. In order to secure the
contract, I had to agree to be “hired,” go through their training
program and work in the back of the house for two weeks. What I learned
in those two weeks I took with me and have applied in all of my
employment settings ever since.
This fast-food restaurant chain had an ingenious training system and
they had it down to a science. They called it “Four Corner” training.
They called it such because training for each and every task consisted
of four simple steps. The first step involved the employee reading and
viewing the training materials associated with the task procedure. Once
the new hire completed this first step, he or she proceeded onto the
next step: knowledge testing. If they are not successful in completing
the quiz, their trainer would discuss the answers with them and then
they had to go back to the beginning and go through the training
materials until they could successfully pass the quiz with a score of
no less than 90 percent.
Having successfully completed the knowledge component of the training,
the trainee went on to the practical. The worker would go out onto the
floor with the trainer and was shown how to complete the task safely,
in accordance with the written job procedure. Once shown how to do the
task, the worker then had to demonstrate to the trainer that he or she
could complete the task safely and following the correct steps. The
trainer had a performance observation checklist that guided him on what
to look for. If the worker could not successfully demonstrate that he
could complete the task, then the trainer would once again show the
worker how to complete the task while providing key points on how to
improve. This continued until the worker could satisfy all of the
requirements on the checklist.
This four-step approach to training used by this company accomplished
several things. First off, it established an environment of trust
between worker and supervisor. This is critical if workers are to feel
comfortable about reporting hazards and incidents. Secondly, it creates
a firm foundation on which to develop competent workers and we know
that competent workers are far less likely to become injured on the
job. Finally, having the task training documented provides the employer
with a valuable tool to demonstrate due diligence should it ever be
required. Clearly, the training system was a win-win for both workers
and management.
There are some situations in which workplace training is not as simple.
What if your workforce comes from a different culture? What do you do?
Clearly, there are no simple answers but there are some things that you
can do. Those things will be discussed in my next column.
Fred Matthews, CRM, CRSP, is regional health and safety advisor (west) for Maxxam Analytics Inc. You can contact him by tel: (780) 468-3579 or email:
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