It sounds a reasonable length to me. Our basic H&S, fire and m&h training together take a whole day, and that's on top of a site H&S induction, John

Barrie, is this an induction for a new employee? If so, we moved from a one hit on day one approach to a longer time span. The initial bit was kept very short (max 25 minutes) and covered the vital stuff a new starter really needs to know from day 1. Our HR people reckoned that after 25 minutes the chances of much sticking in the mind was pretty small especially if it is on top of all the other new stuff that they are trying to assimilate. Our approach was: How would you know there is an emergency situation and what to do if there is. Quick explanation of how safety works in the company. Where to find the R.A./ SSOW. Leave them to their line boss, who should be doing their task safety SSOW stuff anyway. Catch up with them later when they have some mental capacity spare to start taking in the detail of H&S in the company and skills such as manual handling etc. Wouldn't work everywhere of course and many might be sucking air at the thought of its brevity but it worked well for us in a fast paced engineering environment. p48

I agree with Pete - it's best to spread it out. This also gives you an opportunity to test whether the stuff you have told them has made it into the long-term memory.

Thanks guys for coming back. My esteemed leader ... Trying answer in turn, Yes new starters of various ages. If I did safety and enviro only (basically my area) I would be dragging them back every day for something else as I know the dept managers wouldn't do it themselves. Tried it once and was told next time do them all together. Courses no, but awareness raising yes esp. when coshh involved. Needs analysis indirectly yes as indicated at the start. Now another question: Has any one used the NAPO films as a main part of their induction routine? I have viewed them on line and thinking possibly purchasing a DVD of some pertinent to our company. Badger

Too much information given at induction will be lost as the person will be overwhelmed with all sorts of information. Better to do it over a period of time. Say the first month. First day you want to know where are the loos, where you can make a cuppa, where's the fire assembly point and when you can go home!

FWIW, our 'essentials' induction on day 1 is: 1: The company has responsibilities and we recognise them 2: Employees have responsibilities too - work safely, follow instructions, report accidents 3: Fire arrangements 4: First aid arrangements 5: Accident reporting 6: Company D&A policy 7: Working hours 8: How to fill in timesheet system so you get paid 9: Company use-of-computers policy 10: Where are toilets, kitchens and the nearby sandwich shops The rest is driven via. a checklist and a process where a nominated person is responsible for ensuring the new start gets the defined information over the course of the first month.