FAQ

A. Yes we will be happy to produce a written safety manual and/or an employee handbook as well. We would prefer to inspect your facility first. This would fall under our Free Consultation offer. But if you prefer, you could communicate the needs of your company by answering a questionnaire. From this we can find out what you need and produce the documents that you and your company require.

Q. My Insurance company already conducts safety audits for my company, why should I pay you to do the same?

A. Many insurance companies employ competent safety professionals. However, they do not generally conduct the training or, in most cases, they do not produce the written materials that will comply with the law. If you take a look at your last copy of their survey, you may notice on their report a list of hazards, discrepancies and recommendations. Usually, they will leave it up to you to implement the recommendations and if you do not, you may be subject to termination of your coverage or may no longer be eligible for any discounts. We want you to succeed and if you are focused on hazards and discrepancies in your workplace, you should be entitled to discounts.

A. That’s great and in the majority of cases that is true. But OSHA has increased their efforts over the past couple of years to target more companies for inspections. Do you know where your company ranks in comparison to your particular industry with DART and TCIR rates? OSHA bases their inspections a lot on these numbers. It’s important that you find out and do what is necessary to not only stay off of OSHA’s radar but eliminate injuries all together. If you have never experienced an OSHA inspection, chances are you may….it’s best to be prepared and it may cost you less to be prepared rather than not.

Q. We are just a small company and therefore do not fall under any OSHA requirements.

A. If you have fewer than 11 employees for an entire year you are exempt but only from OSHA’s recordkeeping standard. You will still have to have some required programs unless you are in one of the following situations;

Q. I have designated an employee to handle our safety issues along with their regular responsibilities. Why would I pay the extra expense for your services too?

A. We don’t want to take away anyone’s responsibilities or replace someone’s position in your company. But do you honestly think that a part time safety person can keep your company from getting OSHA fines, develop programs and trainings, carry out the programs and training, and identify hazards while still performing their regular responsibilities? That is a lot to ask of someone. We can help relieve some of these responsibilities to make it easier and be available with my 24/7 access so if your designated person has a question or problem, they can rely on us to help them through it.

A. You can outsource all of your Human Resource needs. Some of these may include:

Performance Management – analysis and evaluation of your employees to determine their compensation levels and job descriptions to allow you to assign duties and to hold your employees accountable for the performance.

Selection and development of new hires – interviewing techniques to ensure you hire the best person for your company, development of orientations so that your new hire starts off on the right foot within your organization, mentor programs to help develop your new hires and help them succeed

Training and Development – needs analysis and development and implementation of training programs such as harassment, employee orientation, performance planning and management, discipline and recruitment and termination

Day-to-day administration – of all human resource issues including developing employee handbooks and policies and procedures handbooks and manuals.

A. Human Resources is a process that organizations use to ensure the effective use of their employees in the pursuit of both the organizational and individual goals. Today’s employees are more concerned than ever about their own development and their function within the organization. Human Resources cater to these needs while maintaining a focus on the goals and objectives of an organization. Human Resources also protect the organization from various types of employment litigation. And in today’s litigious society, Human Resource function is more important than ever.

Q. I only have a couple of employees and therefore do not need an employee handbook, do I?

A. With even just a few employees, an employee handbook can take a way a lot of issues that can become problematic. A handbook spells out in no uncertain terms what the expectations of the company are; performace and conduct expectations and also outlines and overviews of benefits. Those companies that have a handbook have a much easier time defending themselves in many types of employment litigation situations. There is a simple rule in both safety and health and human resources; if it is not in writing, it never happened.

A. An analysis of your organization would be a good starting point. We would first start by using Six Sigma. This is a business philosophy that uses various statistical tools to help find variation in a process. Although Six Sigma is often used as a quality control method, we can easily use this to help pinpoint issues we need to focus on so that your turnover will begin to disappear.

Other areas that often contribute to turnover is the hiring process itself. NewWorld Solutions can conduct educational sessions with your managers and supervisors to give them the tools they need to become better at interviewing, hiring, and retaining employees.

A. There is no better way to accurately assess the attitudes and perceptions of your employees. A survey can help to more easily focus on key areas of strengths and weaknesses. Issues in areas such as communication, supervisory effectiveness, training needs, and overall employee development are all areas that can lead to high turnover in an organization. Regular surveys also provide you with a baseline to which you can benchmark future comparisons.

Q. Someone told me that it is a bad idea to use the term probationary period to describe an employee’s first three months with our organization, what is your take on that?

A. We have to agree. Having a probationary period can weaken an employers claim that employment is at-will. Probationary periods are usually thought of as a specified period of time in which the employee can be terminated at any time. At-will employment is a common law concept that allows employees and employers to terminate the employment relationship at any time for any reason, except for reasons that are specifically prohibited by law or contract.

Some courts however found a problem with employers probationary periods. The employers imply that while employees can be terminated for any lawful reason during the probationary period, employees are entitled to retain employment after that period unless the employer can show just cause for the termination.

Employers can avoid this implication by removing all references to probationary periods and including at-will disclaimers in employment applications, offer letters and the employee handbook.

We also think the phrase “probationary period” is also – just plain negative in tone. How about using the phrase introductory period? This offers the idea of an orientation period in which the employee is being trained and is continually being acclimated into the organization.

Q. We have a lot of managers that are producing excellent results for our organization. I hear the term “manager vs. leader”; is this talk of leadership just a new fad or is there something more to it?

A. You are right about one thing; it is new. If your managers are producing good results for your company, that is great. But being a leader and being a manager are two totally different things. Your managers may be leaders in many ways but don’t know enough to develop it more. NewWorld Solutions can help draw their attention away from being managers and give them the knowledge and skills needed to become good leaders as well.

Leadership is new in theory but it will certainly prove to be no “fad”. The idea of leadership is here to stay and we feel that this issue “leadership vs. management” will be in direct comparison to organizational success and failure.

Managers manage things; inventories, paperwork, budgets, and time. Leaders lead people to accomplish the goals and objectives of the company. People follow leaders willingly and without reservation. Good leaders bring out the best in people and incorporate their ideas, opinions, and suggestions into the process.

If your company is seeing good results from your managers, imagine what could be accomplished if they were leaders. Leadership is not something that you are born with or something that is learned…it is a choice. NewWorld Solutions can help managers make the right choice; to become a leader.