You only get one chance to effectively integrate the new employee into your organization.
Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.
Hiring a new employee provides businesses a brief chance to provide the individual with information to help them do their jobs in the desired manner. There are many facets to successful onboarding, but I want to focus on safety training required by regulators at the time of hire. Some of the pertinent requirements include:
OSHA 1910.1200(h)(1) — Hazard Communication
Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area.
ANSI/ALI ALOIM:2008 4.4.1 American National Standards Institute — Autolift Safety
The operator shall operate the lift ONLY AFTER being properly instructed and trained in accordance with this standard.
OSHA 1910.178(l)(1)(ii) — Forklifts
Prior to permitting an employee to operate a powered industrial truck (except for training purposes), the employer shall ensure that each operator has successfully completed the training required.
OSHA 1910.157(g)(1)] — Fire Extinguishers
Provide an educational program to familiarize employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use and the hazards involved with incipient stage firefighting. [29 CFR 1910.157(g)(1)] Provide this education when employees are first hired and once a year thereafter [29 CFR 1910.157(g)(2)].
1910.1030(g)(2)(i) — Bloodborne Pathogens
The employer shall train each employee with occupational exposure in accordance with the requirements of this section. Such training must be provided at no cost to the employee and during working hours. The employer shall institute a training program and ensure employee participation in the program.
Training shall be provided at the time of initial assignment to tasks where occupational exposure may take place.
1910.38(e) — Emergency Evacuation
Training: An employer must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees.
Review of Emergency Action Plan: An employer must review the emergency action plan with each employee covered by the plan when the plan is developed or the employee is assigned initially to a job.
Besides what’s listed above, there are also OSHA training requirements for Personal Protective Equipment and Respiratory Protection.
Beyond the necessity to comply with OSHA regulations, it is important to consider that, even without OSHA enforcement activity, these basic training requirements form a “standard of care” required of an employer in the event something goes wrong. In order to prove a business wasn’t negligent, the employer must demonstrate that they performed these fundamental activities.
So, comprehensive, time-of-hire safety training is needed. Fortunately for NHADA Workers Compensation Trust members, all of these industry-specific trainings are conveniently packaged online for $10.00 per hire. You read that right! Eight different automotive-specific topics professionally done with quizzes to show competency, certificates of completion, recordkeeping features, training report capabilities, etc. for TEN BUCKS!! If you want to pay additional subscription, access or other charges let us know but for now that’s the price!
Some of you are thinking, “But Brian, we’re small. We hardly ever hire anybody, so this doesn’t really apply to us.” To which I respond, “Even if you don’t hire often, it’s still important to do it right.” Lucky for us, the Traincaster Online Learning Management System is easy to use. So easy in fact that all you need to do is call or email us with the new hire’s name and job title and we’ll assign the training and direct them to the website. The new hire safety training takes about 20 minutes for non-technicians and 1.5 to 2 hours for a technician — time well spent considering the information provided, compliance benefits, and its potential impact on employee behavior to remain safe in the workplace.
Don’t let the unique opportunity that presents itself when you hire to waste away. Implement an onboarding program at your business that incorporates NHADA’s New Hire Safety Orientation.
