1. Explain the workers comp process. Even in today’s office work environment,
young and senior employees can fall (and break wrists)2. Create common sense rules. The longer your policies, the less likely they are to be read. It’s true you may need to have more extensive rules for key personnel. Depending upon the type of organization, you might need a full-fledged emergency management plan, but that doesn’t mean everyone needs the details. Any plan needs to be flexible. No one in Gander Newfoundland could have expected that all planes heading to the East Coast would have been detoured to Canada on 9/11. (See my Sept blog)
3. Orient and train new employees immediately. We used to be able to be more casual about when people were oriented. If you provide services to kids, employees need to know the rules and reporting requirements on the first day.
4. Expect that accidents do happen. Hospitals always have extensive orientations. During an orientation on back care by an appropriate staff member, a new employee threw out her back. One of the major workplace accidents is a back injury.
5. Check computers for viruses, etc. If you’re a large organization, you have a routine, but if you are a small nonprofit you need to be wary that your employees are up up-to-date. Go check.
