How to Protect New Workers: A Guide for Ontario Employers
Workers on the job for less than a month are four times more likely to be injured than those with more than a year of experience.
This striking statistic from the Institute for Work and Health highlights the urgency of taking new worker health and safety seriously.
Whether you’re onboarding summer students, temporary workers, or employees transferring to new roles with different hazards, your legal and moral responsibility is the same: keep them healthy and safe. Here’s how to do that effectively.
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Who are new workers? New workers include temporary or contract workers, workers transferring to new roles with unfamiliar hazards, or summer students.
Before a new worker starts the job
Prepare your supervisors.
Ensure supervisors understand new workers are at higher risk of injury and must be under close supervision initially. Supervisors should know the job hazards and relevant health and safety legislation.
Tell others in the workplace.
Let everyone in the work area know that a new worker will be starting. Inform them of who they are and what they will be doing. Encourage everyone to help keep an extra eye out for the new worker. You can help others identify the new worker by providing a special-coloured hard hat, shirt, or nametag. Ask colleagues to be patient and to answer any questions the new worker may have.
Assign new workers to less risky work.
Avoid assigning new workers to high-risk duties immediately. Ease them in with lower-risk responsibilities, progressively increasing difficulty as they gain experience.
Evaluate the work area for hazards before they start.
Conduct a hazard assessment of:
- Work processes they’ll be involved in
- The environment and layout
- Materials they’ll use or be exposed to
- Tools and equipment they’ll handle
- People they’ll interact with (e.g., contractors, coworkers, public).
Need help evaluating workplace hazards?
When a New Worker Starts
Encourage Questions Often
New workers may avoid asking questions to appear capable. Encourage them frequently—this alone can prevent incidents. Everyone, from the supervisor to colleagues in the workplace, should frequently encourage new workers to ask questions.
Provide orientation and training
Initial orientation should include:
- Procedures for reporting a hazard
- Restricted areas
- Emergency response plan
- Where to find answers to questions about their work, tasks, etc.
Ensure new workers receive training on the following topics.
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
- Workplace violence and harassment
- Other hazards in the workplace and the procedures required for a healthy and safe work environment
- Worker Health and Safety Awareness in Four Steps.
Don’t overload them. Spread orientation over several days or weeks when possible.
You will likely want to cover a lot of information as soon as a worker starts. But be careful not to overwhelm them. Consider what information must be provided immediately and what information can be provided over time. For example, can their orientation be spread out over two weeks instead of two days?
Identify hazards and risks on the job.
Before beginning work, ensure the supervisor and new worker carry out a workplace inspection for hazards and risks. Confirm they document their observations and identify corrective actions, such as raising the work onto a table to avoid the need to bend or correctly using hearing protection.
On the Job
Show them.
Before a new worker begins a new task, show them how to perform it safely. Review critical steps in the procedure. Break down the task into small steps and have them master chunks at a time. Encourage them to ask questions.
Observe and coach.
Once you are confident they understand the task, closely observe them performing it on their own. Offer feedback on what they are doing correctly and what could be improved. Reinforce not just what to do, but why it matters.
Continue to encourage questions.
Make sure they understand.
Depending on the nature of the task, you may want to formally test their knowledge and skills about what they have learned. Perform a knowledge check at the end of the day, or even a day or week later. This will confirm they have a better understanding of how to do the job safely. Ensure they understand why tasks must be performed a certain way and what can happen if done incorrectly.
Continuously supervise.
Ensure the worker is under the direct observation of a seasoned coworker or supervisor until you are confident in their ability to perform the task safely on their own.
Recordkeeping
Document all orientation and training provided to new workers. If you already have an orientation checklist, you may want to incorporate the health and safety aspects into this document.
Thinking of enhancing your employee H&S orientation program?
WorkBright™ is a consulting company that provides expertise in occupational hygiene and in health and safety. We help organizations assess health and safety risks and find ways to prevent harm to workers and your business.