The benefits of employee training

By Julie Young

Companies have to effectively train employees in order to get the job done and to avoid injury. Using training manuals, webinars and other presentations, companies are able to tell employees what they can expect on a job and how to avoid potential problems when it comes to personal and site safety.

“We wait until all of our new hires are in for the year, and then we take them through a two-hour training session that they sign off on,” says Brad Blomme, Big Top Tent Rentals Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. “We also go over safety issues in a classroom setting.”

On-the-job training is typically the best way for a new hire to get his or her feet wet. Bill O’Brien with Barrie Tent & Awning in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, says that he puts a new hire with an experienced veteran to learn the ropes locating overhead utility lines and using the equipment.

“We instruct them how to swing a sledgehammer and not to hit anything important,” O’Brien says, laughing. “We endeavor to find a student who is into sports and who is fairly strong.”

Julie Young is a freelance writer based in Indianapolis, Ind.