The Tragic Cost of Failed Safety Orientation

When new employees walk through your door on their first day, one of the first things you have to do is make sure they’re safe. And that makes safety orientation a priority from Day 1.

The consequences of orientation failure—accidents and injuries—are not something you want on your conscience or on your record.

Here are two case studies in orientation failure:

Case 1: Instead of shutting down a conveyor to clean it, a new employee decided to save time and do the job while the conveyor was moving. When he was finished, he prepared to jump off the conveyor. Unfortunately, he slipped, and his pants got caught in the roll feeder. He lost a leg, but he was lucky not to have lost his life. Sure, someone had told him to shut the conveyor down first. But the message apparently didn’t get across. This young worker doesn’t seem to have understood the “why” of the shutdown rule or the risk he was taking if he failed to follow it.

Case 2: A novice forklift operator noticed that his forklift was blocking an aisle. Instead of getting back onto the forklift to move it, he stood beside it and put it into reverse. He lost control of the forklift. In an effort to get on the lift truck, he slipped and fell. The forklift ran over him, crushing his back. After months in the hospital, several operations, and more months of rehabilitation, he was able to walk again, but suffered constant pain. To be fair to the employee’s supervisor, who would have imagined that someone could do something so stupid and dangerous? But when you’re orienting new employees, you have to imagine the most outrageous possibilities and cover all the bases. Beware of making assumptions about what new employees know—especially if they are young and inexperienced.

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Orientation Buddies

Stories like these underline the need to provide essential, effective safety training to new hires as soon as they come on board. Of course, finding the time for orientation is always a problem. That’s where orientation buddies come into the picture.

Every new hire should have an orientation buddy to help him or her get off to a good, safe start. For example, orientation buddies can:

•   Provide accurate information about policies, procedures, job hazards, and safe work practices.
•   Clarify job assignments to prevent mistakes.
•   Answer questions about hazards and help solve problems.
•   Assist with initial safety training.
•   Familiarize new workers with tools, equipment, materials, and so on.
•   Provide feedback and encouragement for safe work behavior.
 
In order to carry out these important duties successfully, orientation buddies should:

•   Have been with your organization for at least a year.
•   Have a good performance history and a safe work record.
•   Be skilled in the new employee’s job.
•   Possess broad knowledge about your organization, your operations, and your safety programs.
•   Be compatible with the new worker in terms of age, background, etc.
•   Have the time to spend with the new employee and be willing to take on the assignment.
•   Be patient and communicate well.
•   Serve as a positive safety role model.

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Tomorrow we’ll continue with orientation and look at essential safety and health information that should be included in every new employee’s orientation.

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