Health and safety induction

What the law requires for a new starter

No regulation uses the word "induction" for most workplaces. Several require the things an induction does, and they apply from the first day.

• Training on recruitment. Regulation 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires every employer to give employees adequate health and safety training "on their being recruited", and says it must take place during working hours.
• Information on risks. Regulation 10 of the same Regulations requires information the employee can understand on the risks found by your risk assessment, the precautions, the emergency procedures and the people nominated to carry out an evacuation.
• Fire safety training. In England and Wales, article 21 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires adequate safety training "at the time when they are first employed".
• First-aid arrangements. Regulation 4 of the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 requires you to tell employees what the first-aid arrangements are, including where the equipment and the people are.
• The law poster. The Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989 require you to display the approved health and safety law poster where employees can read it, or give each of them the approved leaflet.

None of these says how long an induction must be, what form it takes or that it must be on paper. The test is whether the training was adequate for the risks of the job. Our guide to mandatory training covers the duties that follow on from day one.

The reason to take it seriously is in HSE's own guidance: workers are as likely to have an accident in their first six months at work as during the whole of the rest of their working life.

Who needs an induction

Every new employee, whatever their hours and however experienced they are. Someone with twenty years in the trade still does not know your fire exits, your machines or your rules.

HSE's guidance is that everyone who works for you needs to know how to work safely, and that this includes contractors and self-employed people. So agency workers and subcontractors get an induction too, sized to what they will be doing.

Three groups need more than the standard version.

• Young workers. HSE says young people are likely to need more supervision than adults, and that training should be checked for understanding.
• People whose first language is not English. HSE suggests visual methods such as pictures, signs or videos where understanding of English is limited.
• Existing staff who change job. Regulation 13 requires training again when someone is transferred or given new responsibilities. A partial induction for the new role does that.

What to cover on day one

HSE's advice for new starters comes down to six steps: assess what the person is capable of, give an induction, check your precautions are in place, give the information and training the job needs, supervise, and check they have understood.

For the induction itself, HSE says to plan it, use plain language, and take time to walk round the workplace with the new worker and show them where the main hazards are. That walk matters more than any slide. A sensible order is:

1. Emergencies first. Fire alarm, exits, assembly point, first aid. If the alarm goes at eleven o'clock on their first morning, they need to know what to do.
2. The workplace. Where they can go, where they cannot, where vehicles move.
3. Their own job. The risks, the safe way of doing each task, the equipment they are and are not yet allowed to use.
4. Who to tell. Their supervisor, how to report an accident or a near miss, and that stopping to ask is expected.

Do not try to cover everything in one sitting. Give day one to what they need in order to be safe this week, and book the rest.

Health and safety induction checklist

Work through this with the new starter, in the workplace, not at a desk. Each line is written so that you can tick it when it is true. Cross out any that do not apply and add your own.

Before they start work

• Their experience, training and certificates have been asked about and checked
• Any health condition, reading difficulty or language need that affects the job has been discussed
• A named supervisor is responsible for them during their first weeks
• If they are under 18, the risks to a young person have been assessed before they start

Emergencies and first aid

• Knows what the fire alarm sounds like and what to do when it goes
• Has walked the escape route and stood at the assembly point
• Knows who the fire marshals are
• Knows who the first-aiders or appointed person are, and where the first-aid kit is
• Knows how to call for help in an emergency, and the address to give
• Knows how to report an accident or a near miss, and who to

The workplace

• Has been walked round the workplace and shown the main hazards
• Knows which areas, machines and vehicles are off limits until trained
• Knows the pedestrian routes and where vehicles operate
• Has been shown the toilets, washing facilities, drinking water and where to eat
• Has seen the health and safety law poster, or been given the leaflet

Their job

• The risks of their own job, and the precautions, have been explained from the risk assessment
• Has been shown the safe way to do each task they will do in the first week
• Has been trained on each piece of equipment before using it, or told not to use it yet
• Knows how to move the loads the job involves, and which lifting aids are provided
• Knows which substances they will handle and the precautions for each
• Knows what further training is booked, and when

Protective equipment

• Has been given the protective equipment the job needs, in a size that fits
• Has been shown how to wear it, look after it and store it
• Knows how to report equipment that is damaged, lost or does not fit

Raising concerns

• Knows who their supervisor is, and who to go to when the supervisor is not there
• Knows they are expected to stop and ask when unsure, and to report anything unsafe
• Knows who is responsible for health and safety in the business
• Has been asked what was unclear, and has had answers

Record

• The date, the new starter's name and the name of the person who gave the induction are written down
• Both have signed the completed checklist
• A follow-up conversation is booked for the end of the first week

Site induction on a construction site

Construction is the exception: here the law does use the word. Under regulation 13 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the principal contractor must make sure "a suitable site induction is provided". Under regulation 15, a contractor must give each worker under their control a suitable site induction where the principal contractor has not already provided one. On a job with only one contractor, that contractor does it.

HSE's guidance on site rules and induction is that every site worker must be given a suitable site induction, and that it should be specific to the site and highlight the particular risks and the control measures people need to know about. Because it is about the site, it is given again on every new site, even to someone who had a full induction when they joined the firm.

Visitors need one too. HSE says inductions for people who visit occasionally or once should be proportionate to the visit, and that an escorted visitor only needs to be told the main hazards they may be exposed to and the control measures.

Site induction: the points to cover

• Has been told who is managing the project and who is in charge on site
• Has been given an outline of the project and the work going on around them
• Knows the site rules: protective equipment, restricted areas, smoking, phones, hot works and permits
• Knows the traffic routes, the pedestrian routes and where plant is working
• Knows the particular risks on this site and the controls for each
• Knows the first-aid arrangements and how accidents and incidents are reported on this site
• Knows the fire and emergency arrangements for this site
• Knows where the welfare facilities are
• Knows how workers are briefed and consulted on this site, for example by toolbox talks
• Understands their own responsibility for health and safety on site
• Their skills, training and cards have been checked against the work they are there to do

HSE publishes a free induction pack for smaller construction companies on its toolbox talks page, designed for a session of half an hour to two hours.

Checking the induction has worked

A signature shows that someone was told. It does not show they understood. HSE's sixth step is to check that workers have understood the information, instruction and training, and are acting on it, and it calls the first days and weeks vital.

• Ask them to show you: the way out, where the first-aid kit is, how to isolate the machine.
• Watch them do the job in the first week, and correct what you see.
• Come back at the end of week one and ask what they are still unsure about.
• Keep them with a named, experienced person until you are satisfied.

How to record an induction

The general training duties do not say how training must be recorded. Keep a record anyway. After an accident involving a new starter, the first question will be what they were told, and by whom.

A good record has the person's name, the date, who gave the induction, what was covered and both signatures. The completed checklist above does all of that on one sheet. File it with the person's other training records, and note any item that was left for later with the date it was finished.

The induction then becomes the first entry on that person's training record, and the first column on your training matrix. Later briefings, such as toolbox talks, build on it.

Recording inductions in SafetyPro360

In SafetyPro360 you can set up the induction as a training course that never expires and add it to every role. Each new person then shows on the training matrix as required and missing until you enter a training record with the date the induction was done. Notes can be kept on the record, such as who gave it and anything left to finish. The product does not collect signatures. If you want the signed checklist kept, scan it and upload it as a document, where it is stored privately in your account.

Questions people ask