Signing on employee training completion

[Wolfie]

The human race is growing weaker by having to wrap idiots up in cotton wool. Bring back natural selection.

 

Actually, that's not a bad idea - gaffer tape huge bundles of cotton wool to him every time he sets a ladder until he starts doing it right.

[Mat]

The human race is growing weaker by having to wrap idiots up in cotton wool. Bring back natural selection.

 

Actually, that's not a bad idea - gaffer tape huge bundles of cotton wool to him every time he sets a ladder until he starts doing it right.

 

That's an excellent fact.

 

I am interested though, in the source of this information.

 

By my reckoning, since 1974 (random date ) the population:

 

• Lives longer.
  
• Has better general health.
  
• Is more affluent.
  

 

Am I missing something here?

[Mat]

Employ someone who is proficient if your company is growing.. They might cost you more, but they will undoubtedly earn you more. Also, peace of mind is worth a lot more than a few

quid. Undue stress is not a good thing.

 

But what if the new employee is say, more proficient at deploying ladders and setting out fences etc, but turns out to be lousy at labouring because it is 'below' him, or he is a puny little weed? What if, instead of dragging brash, he gazes at his phone all day, facebookin' and instgramin', pretending not to notice the ever increasing pile of mess?

 

Who ends up draggin then?

 

Don't underestimate the benefits of a grafter!

[Starscream]

But what if the new employee is say, more proficient at deploying ladders and setting out fences etc, but turns out to be lousy at labouring because it is 'below' him, or he is a puny little weed? What if, instead of dragging brash, he gazes at his phone all day, facebookin' and instgramin', pretending not to notice the ever increasing pile of mess?

 

Who ends up draggin then?

 

Don't underestimate the benefits of a grafter!

 

Fair point, but I meant someone who is proficient in all aspects of the industry.. I work with a lot of them, so they do exist. Perhaps my comment wasn't very clear, but I didn't necessarily mean ditch him, just employ a team leader style person if the company is growing in the right direction.

[bolthole]

I am a small 2 man ltd company, my employee often thinks that doing things the bone idle way and more often than not the unsafe way is perfectly fine! He doesn't climb and does mostly labouring. He has nptc tickets but the other things he does setting tower scaffold up, ladders on the correct angle etc he has learnt from me. I feel like I have to constantly repeat myself in an effort to look out for his, mine and others safety, my question is if for example he did not set the ladders correctly when hedge cutting and fell, hurt himself or someone else it would come down to me the employer and would me verbally showing and demonstrating how to do something be sufficient in the eyes of h&s? Do you do toolbox talks demonstrations etc and get your employees to sign saying they have understood and will comply? In the event of an accident responsibility lies with the employee.

 

The deal with H&S is that it's your responsibility to set up 'safe' systems of work. So if you've given training to ensure he's competent, provided PPE, and risk assessed jobs then you've prety much done your bit.

 

It's then your employee's responsibility to work safely and comply with all the measures you've put in place to minimise the various risks he faces as part of his job. If he either can't or won't play ball then you probably need to look at getting rid of him on competency/misconduct grounds.

 

As far as liability is concerned, in the event of an accident/incident if you can demonstrate that you'd done your bit as an employer, you'll be in the clear, but really who wants to end up in court. He might be lucky and find a lawyer who can 'prove' that it's your fault. This is from the point of view of him bringing an injury case against you. The other concern is that as your employee, if he damages a client's property or a client, or a passer-by then you could be in a world of pain if he's acted wrongly.

 

If you know he's not working safely then he's a danger to himself (and therefore potentially to others) and a liability to your business and you need to sort this situation out.

 

If he's still on his 'probationary period' then it's straightforward and he's just not made the grade - sorry.... next! If he's not then you need to go through the whole process of terminating his employment on competency grounds. This normally involves formally identifying the problem with him and agreeing a plan for him to improve with agreed timescales. I the subsequently fails to improve then you have grounds to terminat his employment. Obviously this is the way to go as it complies with his legal rights and your legal responsibilites, but it also give the individual a fair shake of the stick...

 

If he does something outright dangerous then you might have grounds to call it gross misconduct and dismiss him instantly.

 

Have a look on the .gov website - there's a lot of stuff there about employment rights and the processes of termination which explain the process from the employees point of view. From this you can pretty easily work out what you've got to do.

 

If scratching around on t'internet (.gov website) doesn't do it for you then get some legal advice. You house contents insurance probably covers you if it gets expensive.