Health and safety guide

1. Health and safety induction for new starters

Under health and safety legislation all employees have responsibilities for ensuring their own health and safety at work and for the safety of others.

New employees - first day

A manager has a responsibility to convey health and safety information to new employees before starting work. The new employee should be directed to the Council's corporate health and safety policy (MS Word, 118KB) or the local departmental health and safety policy. Health screening such as hearing tests or tests for hand arm vibration syndrome may need to be undertaken for some roles.

If the employee has a disability or specific health needs, the manager should complete a Risk Assessment and will need to consider if a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) (MS Word 126KB) is needed.

Make sure that the employee is made aware of:

• First aid and fire evacuation arrangements
• Welfare facilities (rest areas, toilets etc)
• How to report an accident or incident

They should be given any personal protective equipment needed for them to carry out their role.

New employees - first week

The employee should be given a copy of or access to all relevant health and safety information and their manager or supervisor should check that they have understood the information provided.

This should include:

• Policies and guidance notes (under the health and safety section) relevant to their role
• Risk assessments for their work activities and/or the tasks they carry out
• Method statements/working procedure documents

The employee should also be given any task-specific training for their role which they may need prior to undertaking the task. This training could range from informal instruction by a supervisor to formal classroom based training or e-learning on the Learning Lounge.

No employee should use any machinery that they have not been trained to use.