• Make a Safe Workplace Overview
• Manage health and Safety
  • Safety of Contractors and Visitors
  • Visitors to Farms
  • Children in the Workplace
  • First Aid Kits
• Make a H&S plan
  • Implementing Your Plan
  • Employee Participation
• Manage Hazards
  • Monitor Employee Health
  • More on health monitoring
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Getting staff to wear safety gear
  • Fatigue, Drugs and Alcohol
  • Sample Drug and Alcohol Policy
  • Workplace Fatigue
• Manage Staff Safely
  • Employee Responsibilities
  • Employee Capability Levels
  • Seven Steps for Training
  • Sample Health and Safety Policy
• Investigate Incidents

Seven steps for training

Employees are adequately trained when they know:

• How to do the job
• What the key steps are
• What dangers they face with the activity, machinery or process
• How to avoid these dangers and keep others safe as well.

A good training and supervision process will include these 7 steps:

1. Explain the activity, machinery or process:

• How it works.
• Dangers and how to avoid them.
• The need to replace damaged safety equipment.
• How to stop and start machines.
• How to check and adjust before starting or using equipment.
• Location and operation of other controls.
• Purpose of guards and safety devices.
• The correct use and adjustment of guards.
• Correct work methods to be used.
• Limitations of the machine.
• Emergency procedures.

2. Demonstrate

Slowly and clearly demonstrate in logical sequence all points listed above, while carrying out the activities/operating machinery.

3. Get the worker to explain

Ask the worker to explain back to you all the points covered in your explanation in Step 1 until you’re satisfied they have understood your instructions.

4. Let them try

Let them run through the operation slowly, step by step, and explain what they’re doing as they go until you are satisfied that they understand any dangers, the precautions they must observe, and they are comfortable with the operation.
Don’t leave them on their own until you are satisfied that they are sure of what they are doing and fully understand your instructions.

5. Follow up

Check periodically that they are not in difficulty, have not found unsafe short-cuts or become careless and over-confident. If you know of any dangerous short-cuts that others have used, expressly point these out. For example, “Don’t ever be tempted to change the blades without first isolating the power supply. I don’t want you just to switch off the machine. I want you to pull out the plug as well before you put your hands anywhere near the blades.”

6. Job instructions

Give the worker clear printed job instructions and checklists to follow.

7. Remind them they need to self-manage their own health and safety

Finish off the instruction with a reminder that the employee shares the responsibility for managing their health and safety.