Tony, aged 23, worked full-time at a local supermarket. He was promoted to supervisor because he was a good worker with an excellent safety record. Tony always reported hazards at the store and looked out for everyone's safety.

The store manager decided to introduce New Supervisor Orientation and Training sessions for Tony and all new supervisors.

The store manager scheduled an hour every day for a week for Tony's orientation and training. This had two benefits: It made it easier for Tony to remember his training and not feel overloaded. The manager also found that setting aside only an hour each day helped avoid interruptions and let him spend most of the day getting on with his job.

Tony received a written position description for his new job. The manager also explained that supervisors' legal responsibilities include looking after the OHS of employees, customers, sales reps, tradespeople and any other visitors in the store.

As many of the store's casual and part-time employees were aged 15-25, Tony received training on the special OHS needs of young workers. Using practical examples and scenarios to explain, the manager went through each of the following YW OHS topics:

• The store's OHS policy and YW OHS policy
• Safe work procedures for YWs in the areas Tony would be supervising
• Why YWs are at increased risk of injury
• Strategies to manage, consult and communicate with YWs
• Tasks where YWs require constant supervision
• Tasks that YWs were not allowed to do

After each training session, Tony put his new information and documents into a folder so he could check it whenever he needed.

The store manager asked Sonja, a more experienced supervisor, to be Tony's mentor.  Sonja agreed and made herself available to answer Tony's questions and offer him support and advice, especially while he was a new supervisor.

The store manager then got Tony to visit the Talking Safety with Young Workers website  and do the self-assessment activities to check what he had learned. In the modules where he didn't get a perfect score, he read the module's information and tips and kept trying until he got everything right. 

Tony, a supervisor at a local supermarket, had to organise orientation for three new YWs.

He went to the Talking Safety with Young Workers website and looked at the different modules.

Tony decided to start with the Managing Young Workers module because it had information, strategies and self-assessment quizzes to help supervisors orientate YWs. 

First, Tony did the self-assessment quizzes and activities to see how much he knew about orientating, training and supervising YWs. He then submitted his answers and got feedback on his results straight away. 

After reading the Managing Young Workers module, Tony learned that to protect YWs' OHS he needed to carry out a Young Worker Risk Assessment throughout the store.

After walking around the store and identifying YW hazards, Tony consulted the store's OHS Representatives to see if they could add anything else. They pointed out more YW OHS risks and suggested strategies to manage them. Tony included these on his list.

Once he had identified the YW OHS risks, Tony was ready to orientate the new YWs. He organised three 2 hour sessions and negotiated suitable dates and times with the YWs. Having three short sessions helped the YWs remember everything and not feel overloaded. It also meant that Tony wasn't taken away from his job for a whole day.  

The lunchroom was quieter, air-conditioned and had some natural light, so Tony held the sessions in there. To avoid interruptions, a week before each session, he put up a notice with the dates and times to let other staff know the room was being used. 

Tony gave the YWs written position descriptions listing their main duties and the equipment, substances and work areas they were not permitted to use. He put the same list up on the OHS noticeboard and told all staff to read it.

The content of the three orientation sessions was as follows: 

• Session One: A walk-through tour of the store to show YWs the staff facilities, first aid kits, emergency exits, and the OHS noticeboard. Tony then introduced YWs to OHS reps, First Aid Officers, HR staff and the store supervisors. He explained how and when to contact each one and put the same information on the OHS noticeboard.
• Session Two: Another walk-through tour to identify the store's physical, biological, chemical and ergonomic hazards and to explain the control measures for each one. In particular, Tony showed the YWs the various types of PPE they would need to control hazards. Tony then listed the equipment, substances and work areas they could not use or needed supervision to use and gave examples of injuries or illnesses that could result if YWs used them incorrectly or without training. He put the same list up on the OHS noticeboard and during the next staff meeting, asked all staff to read it.
• Session Three: Tony went through the procedures for first aid, emergencies, reporting hazards, injuries, near-misses and bullying/harassment. He finished with a quiz on the store's main OHS hazards, control measures the store used and when and how to use PPE. Finally, Tony got each YW to demonstrate the correct use of their PPE.

Two weeks after the orientation sessions, Tony gave the YWs the Workplace Safety Quiz from the Talking Safety with Young Workers website. Two of the YWs struggled to answer some of the questions so Tony went over the same information again, asking lots of open questions to check their understanding.

Finally, Tony assigned each YW a mentor for each shift. The mentors were all approachable workers who modelled safe work methods. Tony told the mentors to ask the YWs plenty of questions and give lots of positive, constructive feedback. He also insisted the YWs ask questions and seek help if they were not sure about anything. 

Tony, a supervisor at a local supermarket, regularly had to train and supervise YWs at the store

Tony went to the Talking Safety with Young Workers website and looked at the different modules.

Tony decided to start with the Managing Young Workers module because it had information, strategies and self-assessment quizzes to help supervisors train and supervise YWs. 

First, Tony did the self-assessment quizzes and activities and to see how much he knew about managing, training and supervising YWs. He then submitted his answers and got feedback on his results straight away. 

To help YWs remember their training and avoid overloading them, Tony only trained YWs to do one new task at a time and waited until they needed to know a particular skill before training them.

Tony used the following method to train YWs:

• Let other staff know that YWs are training
• Check the training equipment and clear the area to make sure it is safe
• Only demonstrate the safest way to do the task (no quick shortcuts)
• Complete the task at normal speed and then break the task down into a series of smaller steps
• Explain how and why to complete each step as you demonstrate it
• Point out the hazards in each step, the harm they could cause and how to remove or control them
• Have YWs demonstrate the task several times, getting them to "talk through" each step as they go
• If YWs make mistakes, check if they need more information / practice / PPE / another demonstration
• Ask YWs open questions to check their understanding, e.g. "How many steps are there?", "What are the hazards with this job?", "How could you get hurt doing this?", "How can you make sure that you don't get hurt?", "What's that guard for?", "Why do we do it this way?", "Who should you ask if you want to check that you're doing it the right way?"

After training YWs, Tony assigned them safe, familiar tasks to avoid overloading them. He also kept a record of training, the YWs involved and the date.

While they were going about their job, Tony monitored YWs constantly. He gave plenty of constructive feedback about OHS performance using short, positive messages, e.g. "Thanks for putting the wet floor sign out", "Remember to get someone to help you carry those bigger loads", "Bend your knees not your back when you lift!", "Use the trolley to move that stuff, OK", "You moved that cord did you? Good!", "I'm glad you cleaned up that spill straight away, one of those customers over there could have slipped!"

When supervising YWs, Tony gave constant reminders about safety - even after OHS orientation and training and insisted YWs ask questions if they weren't sure how to do something.

When YWs asked a question, Tony stopped what he was doing, faced the YW, looked them in the eye and used positive body language to let them know he was listening.

Tony repeated training with YWs who showed a lack of confidence or seemed unsure, especially when YWs said things like "I'm not very good at this", "I don't really understand this", "I think I can remember how this works", I had training for this but that was a while ago", "I reckon I can figure it out".  

To make sure all staff focused on working safely, the store introduced a policy of including OHS performance in performance reviews. When supervisors saw YWs looking out for everyone's safety it was written down in a central record. When YWs had 10 good OHS reports, they were rewarded with free movie tickets.