Employees are at higher risk of injuries during their first six months on the job, according to SFM claim data.

Effectively training new employees on safety can be challenging, but it’s key to protecting and retaining quality employees.

Investing in a quality new-hire safety training program pays off by helping you:

• Take care of your employees
• Control your workers’ compensation premiums
• Avoid Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalties

Planning initial safety training

Your first step is to determine what topics you’ll need to cover.

You’ll want to cover both general hazards, which are applicable to all employees, and job-specific hazards. To identify these risks, conduct general hazard assessments and job-specific assessments. A Job Hazard Analysis, also known as a Job Safety Assessment, should be conducted by someone familiar with the department, workstation and tasks to be performed.

Don’t forget to include the following topics in your new hire safety training:

• Regulatory required training
• General (non-regulatory) training
• Local policies
• Incident reporting
• Return to work
• Emergency response
• Safety committee
• Safety awareness methods
• Right to refuse work or stop job if unsafe or not trained

Appropriate safety training methods are not only necessary to meet regulatory requirements; they are the key to long-term success in reducing potential employee risk. Incorporating a variety of training methods increases employees’ learning retention.

Shadow/mentor training

New employees need to thoroughly understand how to work safely after going through initial and job-specific training. Job shadowing an experienced employee provides an opportunity to learn expectations, observe safe work practices and ask questions to safely become familiar with their new position. A mentor can shadow them to assess whether correct procedures are followed and provide education or feedback.

Refresher training

You can use a safety training matrix to coordinate ongoing, periodic training for your employees.

Start by adding required topics to the matrix. Remaining topics may vary but should include the following:

• Potential hazards
• Injury trends
• Near-miss reports
• Company safety and claims policy reviews

Safety training checklist

SFM developed a simple safety training checklist to help employers determine what to include. It covers basic topics such as:

• Company safety philosophy
• Emergency response – alarms, exits, etc.
• Return-to-work
• PPE requirements
• Compliance-related training
• Procedures that address workplace hazards
• Tools and equipment that support safety
• Behaviors and/or techniques to work safely
• Policies that relate to safety
• Reporting unsafe condition or behavior
• Safety committee members and meetings (if applicable)
• Mentorship program/buddy system

Download our safety training checklist.

Observations

New hire safety orientation programs are most effective when paired with training and periodic safety observations by an experienced mentor or supervisor. Employees should be given expectations and held accountable by their leader to meet them. Consider check-ins at various intervals to assess whether the new employee can work independently to reassure the employee that the employer truly cares about their safety and elevate safety culture within the organization.

Don’t forget leadership training

Employees look to leaders and follow their examples, so it is crucial to include safety as a part of a leader’s onboarding training. Include the following topics in your safety training for leaders:

• Commitment to safety culture
• Goal setting
• Investing in safety
• Work comp 101
• Communication styles

Additional resources

Our Safety Orientation Success Guide is available in our resource catalog. It provides a solid framework that can be used to develop training, help ensure workplace safety regardless of industry, and increase productivity over time.

You can also find a library of helpful safety training resources for a variety of industries on the safety page. Click on “Employee safety orientation” to find resources organized by industry.

“Many companies that I work with really want to keep their employees safe from day one, but simply need some guidance as to what a basic new hire orientation would look like,” said SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Toby Tortorilla. “This new resource is a great reference for businesses of any size, to either start fresh or build upon an existing program.”

Originally published in April 2023; updated in August 2024.

​Nearly 43,000 Americans died in car crashes in 2022, a number that has been on the rise in recent years.

It is a grim reminder that adopting safe driving practices can be lifesaving.

Safe driving habits

Defensive driving and other safe driving techniques are learned habits. Here are some tips to help equip employees and yourself with the knowledge you need to be safer on the roads.

Identify the following common hazards and actively avoid them:

• Changing road or traffic conditions. Adjust your driving to match the traffic around you, and the weather and road conditions.
• Impaired driving. Never drive with alcohol or drugs in your system and keep an eye out for other drivers that may be impaired.
• Distractions, such as food, maps, and cell phones. Avoid distractions that take your attention away from driving or your hands off the wheel. Pull over and stop if you need to text or make a call.
• Driving while sleepy or drowsy. Pull over and rest if you are tired.

Adopt the safe driving procedures:

• Always wear your seatbelt.
• Drive at a speed safe for the weather conditions. Snow and rain may warrant slowing down below the posted limits.
• Maintain space between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you. A safe margin is 2-4 seconds when weather and traffic conditions are ideal, and longer if conditions are slippery or traffic is congested. Commercial vehicles should always maintain a 4-plus second space in front of their vehicle.
• Regularly glance two to three vehicles ahead of you, behind you and to your sides, and use your mirrors to check blind spots.
• Look left, right and left again before entering an intersection.
• Ensure the path is clear, even if you have the right of way at an intersection.
• Maintain an escape route in case of an unexpected event.

Company cellphone policy

Cellphone use is a major contributor to distracted driving and therefore driving-related injuries and deaths. The National Safety Council reports that nearly 12 percent of fatal crashes in in 2021 involved cellphone use.

Meanwhile, 34 states bar people from using hand-held cellphones while driving, and only one state does not prohibit people from texting and driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association .

Company policy should address cellphone use if you have employees whose job includes driving. Not only does it help keep employees safe, but it could help your organization’s bottom line. The National Safety Council reports that employers have been held liable for crashes caused by employee cell phone use, including the use of hands-free devices.

SFM provides a sample cellphone policy CompTalk in our Resource Catalog. This example policy prohibits any use of phones while driving for work, regardless of an employee’s use of hands-free devices. It requires employees pull over and stop before calling, answering, or texting using a cellphone.

Employee training

After establishing company-supported safe driving practices and a cell phone policy, be sure to train employees on them and follow up regularly to ensure employees are following the guidelines.

Lastly, SFM also offers training tools on defensive driving and cellphone use in our Resource Catalog.

By Mike Fetting, CIEE, Loss Prevention Specialist

While injuries often occur when lifting or moving is involved, implementing a program that focuses on proper ergonomics can greatly reduce incidents.

Challenges with larger muscle groups (primarily the back and shoulders) are often easier to identify and control than those associated with repetitive motion risk factors.

Injuries can be caused by moving something that is too heavy or repeatedly handling something that is slightly heavy but in an awkward position (overhead, near ground level, or while twisting).

Establish a program to prevent injuries

A safe lifting/back injury prevention program includes the following elements:

• A designated coordinator
• Workforce training
• Identification of high-risk tasks
• Implementation of controls
• Early intervention

Consider creating an ergonomics safety committee to maintain focus on ergonomic challenges and improvements, if you don’t have one already. SFM’s Safety Committee webpage is an excellent resource for creating a committee. This team is ideally comprised of members with basic ergonomic awareness training (possibly some with advanced training in ergonomic evaluations).

Together, the team can explore ergonomic interventions such as job rotation, stretching, and wellness activities. Ergonomic experts and guests can also be helpful when a professional evaluation is needed.

Use the following approaches to reduce the chance of injuries:

Engineering

Engineering is the most effective intervention. Manipulators and robots are more expensive solutions, but can quickly pay for themselves if even a few severe injuries are avoided. Additionally, there could be added productivity benefits. There are also other simpler, less-expensive controls that can be implemented:

• Raising items off the floor — Some items just need a stand to be stored on and accessed more easily
• Adding a hoist — There are devices to grab almost any shape (hooks, straps, clamps, magnets, or vacuum heads)

Job rotation

The tasks should alternate between light and heavy work.

Safe lifting training

Two key messages to remember are “keep your head up” (this forces you to use your knees and keep your back straight) and “shuffle your feet to turn – don’t twist.”

Stretching and flexing

While not considered as effective as engineering or job rotation, stretching and flexing can warm up the muscles and get them ready for work.

Intervene early and be proactive

Early intervention can keep nagging soreness from becoming a more serious injury. Encourage early reporting and respond positively. Reduce exposure time through task improvements or job rotation, and employ targeted stretching to aid in simple recovery.

Technology can also be used to create a solid ergonomic program. These are best used to improve ergonomics in areas with consistently poor lifting techniques and include:

• Exoskeletons — Frames that are worn by the employee to assist in lifting and/or control posture to avoid awkward positions.
• Wearable sensors — These work by sensing rather than controlling body position.
• Video analysis — These new systems only need a video taken with your phone and a few data entry points to create an ergonomic evaluation. Areas with the most issues can be targeted for improvement.

The best solutions preserve employee health, increase production, and can even enlarge your job candidate pool. In the long term, fewer injuries often mean savings in insurance too.

Additional resources:

• Prevent strains and sprains through proper ergonomics
• Avoid lifting injuries
• Stretching and movement – Get up and move at work
• Use SFM’s Lift Safety 5-Minute Solution for additional tips; our safety video lending library also has many back safety videos
• Visit our resource catalog for additional ergonomic resources you can order or download

​

Originally posted September 2023; updated May 2024.