Health and safety induction
It is very important to ensure that new employees are provided with appropriate information, instruction and training on the health and safety requirements for their role and workplace.
Areas such as fire and first aid procedures will need to be covered on the first day. The essential health and safety training should be completed within the first month of employment. For a full list of training required, please refer to the Health and Safety Induction Checklist (.doc).
For ease of reference, the health and safety competency matrix (.pdf) gives guidance on the training required for each. If further assistance is needed, please email safety@essex.ac.uk.
Who should carry out health and safety induction?
The new employee's line manager is responsible for ensuring that they receive adequate health and safety induction. However, the task of going through the checklist with the new employee can be delegated to a competent member of the team.
Employees in lower risk areas can also find out much of the information themselves by reading their departmental health and safety management statement.
When planning induction programmes, it is important to allow time for the new employee to complete online training and read essential health and safety information.
Health and safety training
Refer to the health and safety competency matrix (.pdf) for specific guidance on the training requirements that will need to be completed for each role.
New employees must complete the How We Work at Essex essential training course on Moodle.
Those with line management responsibilities, Principal Investigators and Academic Supervisors should attend the Managing Health and Safety Essentials and Risk Assessment Essentials course, bookable via HR Organiser.
Resources
All employees should have received an Employee Guide to the Health and Safety Policy with their recruitment packs. Copies are also available from safety@essex.ac.uk.
- University's Employee Guide to the Health and Safety Policy (.pdf)
- UECS's Employee Guide to the Health and Safety Policy (.pdf)
We also have a range of information which you may find useful:
