Why Visitors Should Complete the Induction Process

The main reason why it’s necessary for visitors to complete safety inductions is because it will help to keep them safe. It also helps to protect you from liability for trouble that may occur during the visit.

Imagine a scenario where a visitor is injured as a result of their own actions. If they have not completed a safety induction, there is a gift wrapped excuse available to them that you did not warn them of the potential danger. You would probably have liability for their injuries in any case, but that’s not the worst that can happen. The much worse scenario is where the visitor causes harm to others, and most especially when they cause harm to the general public, as a result of their own actions.

Now there is an argument that any competent lawyer will use that if the visitor was properly supervised, it should then be impossible for them to perform the harmful action, and you therefore should be fully liable for the consequences.

You do at least get a fighting chance if there is evidence that the visitor had completed induction prior to the incident occurring. Some, or even all, of the liability (particularly if criminal charges are involved) may be transferred to the actual culprit. This would be much less likely for visitors that had not completed induction.

Recent updates to legislation may require all workers and visitors to a site to complete an induction process. This doesn’t apply to visitors or delivery persons who only visit the reception area of a business, but anyone accessing an area that could be classified as a “work site” would need to complete the induction.

It’s an under-represented factor, but an important one. Induction gives you a verifiable record of attendance, and makes it easier for you to know who has been on the work site, where they went, when, and who with. If there is a security breach, especially one that involves industrial espionage or sabotage, investigating it will be much simpler when you have access to all the relevant information.

Now that most induction training can be completed online and prior to ever showing up at the work site, it’s a much simpler process to provide the induction material, and you can offer a more diverse range of induction materials in more formats. You can also use visitor management systems and compliance management software, such as LinkSafe (1300 558 102) to monitor, record, and audit induction completion.

Because it is so simple, and because it can be done from virtually anywhere, there really isn’t any good reason to not require visitors to complete the induction process. That’s not even taking into account that it’s almost certainly a legal requirement in the area your work site is located.

Induction protects you, your visitors, your employees, and the general public, so it is worth providing and making sure it is completed by everyone who needs to complete it.