More Than Orientation: Building Effective Safety Onboarding Programs | Risk Matrix Episode 114
Risk Matrix #114: More Than Orientation: Building Effective Safety Onboarding Programs
“Onboarding is not a one and done. Onboarding is a process.”
James and Dr. Martin address the critical vulnerability window that keeps safety directors up at night: the first 90 days. In their decades of combined experience, they’ve seen too many companies bring workers on “willy-nilly” with four-hour orientations and call it onboarding. Then they watch those same companies struggle to explain their program to OSHA or defend it to a jury after an incident.
The reality? Most injuries happen in those first 90 days when workers are learning the job, adapting to company culture, and figuring out how things really work. A quick orientation covering administrative paperwork and basic safety rules isn’t enough. As James puts it: “It’s the foundation. It’s the first glimpse into your safety management system. Everything else is built upon that.”
What You’ll Learn:
- Why standardized training like OSHA 10 is necessary but not sufficient for company-specific onboarding
- How to structure mentorship and short-service employee programs with documented milestones and competency checks
- The systematic approach to onboarding that includes training matrices, medical surveillance, company-specific policies, and probationary periods that actually prepare workers for the field
