Training and Communications

Training Activities

Orientation Sessions

New Workers need an introduction to company health and safety requirements and expectations. Two kinds of orientations are required:

  1. Health and Safety Orientation – an overview of the legislative and company regulations and rules that pertain to health and safety issues, company health and safety regulations, safe and unsafe conditions and practices, and what to do in case of an emergency.
  2. Site Orientation – a walking tour of the site (where appropriate) with explanations of the potential hazards present and the preventative measures to be taken.
On-The-Job Training (OJT)

Job training is the hands-on explanation and demonstration of how to do the job(s) the Employee is assigned to. It should reflect the potential hazards and preventative steps identified in the hazard assessment done for the job. On-The-Job Training and Task Competency must be completed for all Employees completing High Hazard Work.

The training should include the following sequence of steps:

  1. Explain the job and how it fits with other jobs involved in the project.
  2. Explain the various steps involved in the job and the sequence of actions that should be taken.
    • Be careful not to push ahead of the pace of the Worker being trained.
  3. Describe all potential hazards and how to deal with them.
  4. Demonstrate each step, stressing key points and asking for questions at every step.
    • When demonstrating how to do a task correctly, include an explanation why that particular sequence is the right way and explain the risks the person might be taking if they did the job another way.
  5. Explain the reason behind every guideline and procedure.
  6. Watch the Employee perform each step, complimenting good performance and showing how to correct any errors.
  7. Check back frequently after the Employee is working on their own to see if questions have come up and to see that the job is being done properly and in accordance with safety and quality standards.

The On-The-Job Training is concluded by the completion of Task Competency.
Formal Task Competency is to be completed:

  • For all newly hired Employees within the first three months of hire.
  • When an Employee is promoted or their role changes.

It is important to provide thorough job training even for Employees who have done the same job under another Supervisor or with another company. The standards and expectations may be different from someone else’s and Employees need to know exactly what is required by the company and by Applicable Legislation.

Continuing Training

Training should be a continual process for all Qualico Employees, involving a variety of different activities:

  1. Continual Monitoring and Evaluation: This should be a regular part of every task on the Work Site, not an effort to single people out or to catch someone doing things wrong. The goal is to create an atmosphere that keeps health and safety awareness high, and helps Workers’ pay attention to safety without feeling threatened or defensive.
    • Whenever on the Work Site, Workers should be watching for health and safety concerns and commenting regularly on what they see.
    • Workers should report all unsafe conditions or unsafe acts; if a Worker sees something unsafe, they should report it to their Supervisor.
  2. Toolbox Meeting: Toolbox safety meeting should be:
    • Held on company time.
    • Between 5 and 15 minutes in duration.
    • Focused on one or two topics, covered with as much detail as possible.
    • Carefully planned and held to an agenda. If necessary, this agenda can be hand written.
    • Two-thirds presentation time and one-third discussion / question period.
      NOTE: The toolbox meeting frequency may vary based on regional requirements.

    Training Resources
    Construction Safety Association of Manitoba https://www.constructionsafety.ca/resources/downloads/
    BC Construction Safety Alliance https://www.bccsa.ca/Toolbox-Talks-.html
    NOTE: Toolbox Meetings may include Contractors, as appropriate. 

    Possible toolbox meeting topics include:

    • New or changed procedures that introduce a new way of doing things.
    • New equipment and how to use it.
    • A specific company policy and what it means to the crew.
    • Specific health and safety issues that have come up on the job.
    • Potential health and safety problems with the next job on the schedule.
    • Refresher training for established Safe Work Practices and Job Procedures.
    • Work Site incidents; what happened in a previous incident and how to prevent a recurrence?
    • Inspection or investigation results; what was identified and what corrective action is to be taken?
  3. Safety / Construction Team Meetings: A formal meeting with a prepared agenda will occur quarterly with the Regional Safety Manager (or delegate), Supervisors / Superintendents and Managers. Topics to include:
    • Review of health and safety incidents.
    • Contractor health and safety performance.
    • Changes to regulations, COR / SECOR discussions and any other relevant topics.Minutes are to be recorded and circulated to all attending persons.
  4. Training Seminars: Longer training sessions; training sessions can be developed in-house or by accredited bodies in a workshop format.
  5. Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) Meetings: Additional training may be delivered to Employees and Contractors at JHSC meetings as required and appropriate.
Instruction Best Practices

A large part of training involves teaching, providing information and helping them to acquire or develop the skill and judgment required in their work is critical to safe work. This means not only showing them what to do and how to do it, but also setting a good example.

Equally important in training is monitoring and evaluation, which involves monitoring an individual’s work and giving them feedback about how well they are doing. To be useful, the feedback must have specific instructions about what to do differently when problems are identified.

In this section: