Safety From the Start

Employee Onboarding

Joe MlynekSafety Made Simple, Inc.

Partner, Subject Matter Expert

Safety Made Simple, Inc.

Outline

Onboarding Definition

Benefits of Effective Onboarding

Challenges to Effective Onboarding

Onboarding Process Elements

Developing an Effective Process

Effective Documentation

Summary/Questions

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Questions

What does your organization’s onboarding process currently consist of?

Is there room for improvement? And is so;

What one element could we add, expand, or improve on?

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The Case for Onboarding

Did You Know?• Employees in their first three months on the

job are more than three times the risk for a lost time injury (Toronto Based Institute for Work and Health)

• Reason?

• Unfamiliar tasks

• Unsure of Responsibilities

• Uncomfortable speaking up about hazards

• Large number of seasonal employees = large number of new employees

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Onboarding• The process of providing necessary resources to employees so that they

can become a successful member of an organization

• Knowledge

• Tools

• Resources

• Behaviors*

Powerful tool that allows employees to gain skills, knowledge and resources to

ensure success

• Does not only benefit employees but also the business:

• Higher productivity

• Satisfied customers

• Employee safety

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The Case for Onboarding

Companies with effective onboarding processes have:

• 50% higher productivity rates than those without

• 50% greater retention rates

• 69% of employees more likely to stay with a company

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The Case for Onboarding• Engagement

• How motivated employees are to contribute to an organization’s success

• Studies show that 54% of companies with onboarding programs report higher levels of engagement.

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The Case for Onboarding

• Cost Savings

• Hiring new team members is expensive (3k – 18k)

• Studies show that it can take up to 8 months for an employee to reach their full productivity

• Effective onboarding can lessen this amount of time

• Employees gain efficiency 34% faster with longer onboarding periods than shorter ones.

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The Case for Onboarding

• Effective Onboarding Processes are

Associated with:

• Improved performance

• Shortened learning curves

• Increased retention rates

• Improved safety and health performance

(decreased incident rates)

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Onboarding Elements

Workplace TourCompany

History and Culture

Rules of Conduct/Safety

Role/Job Training

Team StructureCompany Benefits

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OnboardingNot a new concept

Most companies perform some type of onboarding whether formal or informal

Informal:

Facility walk-through

Show employee how to perform the job

Discuss safety requirements

Provide some materials to review/read

Face to face meeting with boss, human resources and safety

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Onboarding

• Downfall of Informal

Onboarding

Inefficient

Time consuming

Difficult to schedule due to schedules and

geographic location

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Developing an Onboarding Process

Establish Goals

• Why are we onboarding employees?

• Example answer “So that employees can acquire the necessary knowledge to become a safe and effective team member.”

• Establish:

• Expectations of the learner (productivity, safety, etc.)

• Skills learner should gain through onboarding (hazard/exposure recognition)

• Critical life-safety policies and procedures

• Clear vision of company culture and conduct and values that support culture

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Establish the Right Team• Establish the team that will develop and

implement the process

• Important to include several functions within the organization

• Human Resources

• Operations

• Safety

• Senior Management

• Safety information delivered by an experienced employee or instructor

Team

Human Resources

Safety

Senior Management

Operations

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Invest in the Right Tools• Invest in the right tools involved in the

process

• Learning Management System (LMS)

• Video

• Classroom capability

• Human Resource System

• Safety Management System

• Written Materials (checklists, PowerPoint, policies, etc.)

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Establish the Process

Human Resources

Company Culture

Job Role

Facility Tour

Safety Training

Company Policies

Follow Up Intervals

End Goal = Safe Worker

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Determine Coursework• Importance questions to ask during coursework planning:

• What do they need to know?

• What do we want them to learn?

• What is their baseline knowledge?

• What do I want them to demonstrate?

• Rely on in-house content or external content?

• Plan onboarding coursework and delivery methods

• Face to face instruction

• Online content

• Video content

• Hands-on

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Coursework• Human Resources Coursework

• Workplace Violence

• Drug and Alcohol

• Harassment

• Cybersecurity

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Coursework Safety Courses Based on Scope of Work and Phases of Onboarding

•Hazards of Combustible Dust (common ignition sources)

•Facility Emergency Action Plan

•Personal Protective Equipment

•Hazardous Chemicals (SDS/Hazard Communication Program)

•Injury Reporting

•Lockout Tagout

•Moving Vehicles

•Confined Space/Bin Entry

•Fall Protection

•Rail Safety

•Others

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Measure Success

• Determine how success will be

measured

• Investment versus effort

• Cost per new hire onboarded

• Retention

• Efficiency of onboarding process

• Testing results (different phases)

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Engagement• Engagement is a universal

struggle when training employees

• In a recent survey 71% of respondents said that engaging learners is their biggest challenge

• The Reason: Companies don’t make the process interesting enough for the learner.

• Resist the urge to check the boxes for compliance only.

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Engagement and Retention• To improve engagement and retention levels it is important that organizations

understand how people learn.

• The Learning Pyramid

• Two distinct types of Learning Methods

Passive Learning Methods

Participatory Learning Methods

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Passive Learning Methods• Passive learning methods include lecture, reading, audio-

visual, and demonstration. Retention methods for passive learning include:

• Lecture – 5%

• Reading – 10%

• Audio Visual – 20%

• Demonstration – 30%

• Safety training is often delivered using the passive learning approach. Instructors typically lecture and use supporting materials such as informational handouts, PowerPoint presentations, video, and hands-on demonstration.

• Combination of the four methods provides for a greater level of retention.

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Participatory Learning Methods• Participatory learning methods include

group discussion, practice, and teaching others. The average retention levels for participatory learning include:

• Group Discussion – 50%

• Practice – 75%

• Teaching Others – 90%

• Best approach – A blend of passive and participatory learning methods

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Best Practices

Best Practices

• Do not “frontload” learners with information:

• Bulky manual

• Time spent in front of a computer

• Too much reading

• Learner considerations

• Reading and comprehension ability

• Language barriers

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Best Practices –Phased Approach

• Allow learner a way to:

• Provide feedback

• Ask questions

• Interact with coworkers

• Manage the hiring process to allow adequate time to onboard employees

• Considered a phase onboarding approach

• Start with “low-exposure” activities first

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Best Practices – Phased Approach

• Break Onboarding Processes

into Phases

• First Week

• First 30 Days

• First 90 Days

• First 180 Days

Best Practices - Mentoring

• Mentoring Program

• Pair new employee with an

experience worker

• Begin with observation and

shadowing

• Slowly introduce activities and

hands-on training

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Best Practices -Behaviors

Be specific:

Wear PPEReports

hazards to supervisor

Reports near misses

Abide by life-saving safety

policies (Lockout

Tagout, PRCS, etc.)

Actively participate in

safety training

Create a picture of what “working safely” looks

like

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Best Practices –First Impressions

First Impressions Matter

• Easiest to engage employees when there is a blank state

• Share company’s vision of safety

Employees need to understand their role and what their job entails

• Gallup study indicates that only 50% of employees know what is expected of them

Employee’s need and deserve to know

• What is my job?

• What does the job pay?

• How am I doing?

• How can I improve?

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Delivery and Documentation

Training Delivery• OSHA Training Standards Policy

Statement, 2010.

• OSHA – “Employee training must be presented in a manner that employees can easily understand. This position applies to all of the agency’s agriculture, construction, general industry, and maritime training requirements”

• Consider age, education level, literacy, language, etc.

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Training Delivery• OSHA “An employer must instruct its employees

using both a language the employee can understand, similarly if the employee’s vocabulary is limited the training content must account for the limitation.”

• OSHA “If the employees are not literate, asking them to read materials will not satisfy the employer’s training obligation.”

• According to a study conducted in late April of 2017 by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read. That's 14 percent of the population.

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Training Delivery

• OSHA “Compliance Officers are

responsible for checking and verifying

that employers have provided training

to employees. In addition, CSHOs

must check and verify that training was

provided in a format that the workers

being trained could understand.”

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Bi-Lingual Employee Training

• Interpreter

• Local high

school/university/college–

assist with translation

• OSHA materials in Spanish

(www.osha.gov)

• Online training (Spanish)

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Documentation Retention

• How long should training records be

kept:

• Recommendation: Length of employment

plus 1-3 years

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Training Documentation

• Name of Employee Trained (with signature)

• Trainer Name (with signature)

• Location of Training

• Date(s) of Training

• Subject / Outline

• Proof of Competency – evaluation, testing, etc.

• Summary of Content

• References to materials uses (videos, PowerPoint, handouts, etc.)

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Training Documentation

• OSHA standards are inconsistent with requirements for documentation

• Recommend documenting all safety training

• “If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen.”

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Conclusion

• Invest in Onboarding

• Get the Right People on the Team

• Include the Appropriate Elements

• Consider the Phased Approach

• Mentoring/Shadowing Programs

• Create and Instill the Vision for Safety

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Questions

What does your organization’s onboarding process currently consist of?

Is there room for improvement? And is so;

What one element could we add, expand, or improve on?

44

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Questions?

Joe Mlynek CSP, OHST

joe@safetymadesimple.com

Please connect with me on LinkedIn