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Is your company induction program effective?
Health and Safety, Workforce

Is your company induction program effective?

We’ve all sat through boring induction training, right?

Lots of talk about health and safety, PPE, mission statements, dress codes etc.

But, if done professionally and efficiently, they can be interesting, boost morale, as well as provide a clear understanding of your organisation’s goals, values and vision. Once inductions are completed, you should be confident that new contractors or employees will abide by your company’s policies consistently.

Quality inductions can also help new workers to settle in quickly to their new environment, be more productive and consider working with you for a longer time, rather than making your company just a stepping stone to the next job. Making a good first impression is just as important in business as in real life!

How to make your induction program really mean something

Let’s look at the induction process for a contractor in the healthcare industry. For some, they’re already moving into another new environment, so they need to be up to speed with what’s expected from them at your facility. In healthcare environments, staff and contractors must remain safe and use best practice for hazardous tasks like manual handling, to keep themselves and those around them safe.

4 essential points they need to be across include:

  1. The legislation and standards that govern your facility in your state
  • How to report incidents and hazards properly and quickly
  • How to assess risk and prevent incidents from happening
  • Being up-to-date with best practice manual handling procedures (when relevant)

Many businesses use the ‘Go Away and Find Out for Yourself’ method of inducting people, however, you can make this a much easier and faster process with an online induction course, where everything they need to know is in the one place, giving them the confidence to move forward quickly.

Make it as simple as possible

An electronic platform allows you to streamline the security of onboarding and manage a new contractor more efficiently.

Having the right online induction and training software already in place can:

  • Provide all personnel with an initial induction and ongoing training
  • Be a central storage location for licences and insurances
  • Have a sign-in and sign-off option with electronic signatures
  • Keep contractors safe in the knowledge that their information is secure
  • Make reporting incidents and hazards a simple, quick process
  • Help you monitor contractor status and information

Another great tool that an online induction program can offer is the use of interactive content and videos. This is a much more efficient way to get your message across so that everyone understands it.

What to include in an induction training checklist

Induction training must include the following four fundamentals:

  1. General training – the history of the organisation, their values and philosophy and the organisational structure
  2. Mandatory training – the rules and regulations governing their industry, work health and safety, industry standards etc.
  3. Job training – the provision of a training or procedure manual and shadowing another worker if applicable
  4. Training evaluation – the confirmation that they have read and understood the training, plus an opportunity to provide a review about the quality of the training

Your induction training material should be easy to follow plus use simple language and short sentences to keep the reader engaged and focused.

The FairWork Ombudsman provides a training checklist template to include in your induction training:

  • Employee details
    • Signed letter of engagement
    • Relevant licences and insurance documents
    • Tax file declaration form
    • Superannuation choice form
    • Banking details
    • Emergency contact details
    • IT access and uniforms and passes prepared
  • Orientation and housekeeping
    • Their direct report and an organisational chart
    • Introduction to other staff
    • Where the facilities are: kitchen, toilet, staff room or lockers etc.
  • Essential admin procedures
    • The history of the organisation
    • A copy of the relevant business policies and procedures e.g. codes of conduct and work health and safety policies or procedures
    • Workplace policies and procedures e.g. uniform or dress code, leave information, social media policy, bullying, harassment and anti-discrimination policies
    • Their duties and procedure manual and other training
    • Hours of work and break times

It’s essential to get feedback and signature from the contractor as to the quality and assurance that they have understood the requirements of working within your organisation.

Contact us at Rapid Global to streamline your contractor onboarding processes and make your induction program an effective one. We help businesses of all sizes, across all industries, to improve their work practices.


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