No company wants to be a headline like this, but the data shows that new workers are at greater risk of injury, regardless of their age or experience in the field.

In fact, Institute for Work & Health (IWH) research showed that workers who had been in a job for a month or less had three times the risk of a lost-time injury compared to those who had been working for over a year. New workers are not only those that are newly hired—they also include temporary employees, workers transferred from other areas, contractors, and recently promoted employees.

Build a strong link between new employees and your health and safety program from the moment of hire or transition. New workers are often more open to ideas and information about their company, their role, and new ways of work.

Health and safety training for new workers is relevant in every industry – and every type of job – whether your employees are working on the plant floor, in the warehouse, at corporate office, or remotely from home. Every employee needs to be trained for the work they do and be prepared for the potential risks they may encounter on the job.

JHSC Excellence Award nominee and 2020 Topaz Pinnacle Award recipient PFG Glass Industries understands the critical importance of a formal health and safety orientation program for new hires, as well as defined job descriptions and safe work procedures for every identified task in the plant.

“We have mandatory training for all employees,” says Safety Coordinator Kudzie Marecha, “and no employee is allowed to carry out a task that they are not trained on.”

Poorly trained or untrained workers are not only a risk to themselves, they can also endanger their co-workers. No employee should be asked to perform a task which they have not been trained to do. Without the right training, they may not recognize the dangers
and risk injury or worse.