Rank: Forum user 
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Hi all,
I work as a health and safety advisor in a heavy engineering environment. Due to the work load skilled workers come and go, voluntarily and also due to pay offs, on a regular basis. We also have a core workforce that remains constant.
In the past we have given all workers a full safety induction that has included general site rules, abrasive wheels training, work at height training, metal cutting fluids awareness, HAVs awareness, fire awareness and manual handling training.
Now this all takes time, and some of the managers are objecting to this, the crux of my question is do we need to re-induct some of the skilled tradesmen if they have only been away from the company for three or four months, the management would like to see them go straight on to the shop floor and start work.
Another point of view that has surfaced is that welders and platers are skilled men and we can expect them to be competent in the use of angle grinders etc as they have “done it for years”. A tick box initial assessment (to be completed by the workers) has been suggested as a way of agreeing competency levels, instead of the induction training, this may be carried out by all new starters to the company if it replaces the induction process.
My own opinion is that the induction procedure is good practice and can help defend both civil and criminal actions against the company as well as being a positive influence towards safety culture.
I will be interested in reading all your opinions on this.
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Rank: Forum user
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My view would be that you should do an initial site induction on starting on site covering the usual site rules, emergency procedures etc, the rest I cover in regular tool box talks.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Agree with Paul above, in that a site induction should cover company rules, PPE, fire and emergency arrangements and perhaps a few other matters such as first aid arrangements, reporting incidents, supervision, permits etc. Going into specifics of manual handling, abrasive wheels and so on, does seem OTT in my opinion.
Your contractor procurement system should ensure you only engage competent contractors. As such, these contractors should have on the job knowledge and skills specific to their tasks, with the requisite training and certification.
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Rank: Forum user
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My apologies Ray, I should have wrote employees and not workers. I think that I may have given you the impression that we give contractors the full induction, they do get a basic site rules etc type induction but not the full employee induction.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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For a return of a previous worker, I go through the same induction again with all its headings but for some elements just have a brief discussion to check understanding / memory of the element and note this on the induction record.
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Rank: Super forum user
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At my previous company we had a two day full safety induction broken into 45 minute modules with a short questionnaire after each module that tested the amount absorbed. The induction was broken by site familiarisation trips. This induction was given to all new personnel (employed & contract via agency) who would be engaged in the core activities of the company e.g. crane driving, tugmaster driving. Where an agency worker left and later returned they would be given a shorter refresher induction depending if they were going to do the same job as previously, they were also required to complete further questionnaires.
Because of the nature of the work all new personnel had an assessment period where further training was given and assessments were carried out until the training department were satisfied that a person was competent to fulfill their role. Returning agency personnel had a follow up assessment after their induction.
ALL contractors who were working on site doing none core work e.g. road marking, civil infrastructure maintenance were given a shorter induction regarding site rules, safety procedures, emergency procedures and contact numbers. Then if they were regular visitors they were given updates as to what had changed since their last visit.
This process worked for us and ensured that changes were notified to agency personnel.
The main question is really how hazardous is your industry?
Do things change on a regular basis?
If a person returns after a period to do the same work will a short refresher induction provide the necessary information to bring them up to date with the site operation and keep them safe?
Take Care
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