Short Service Employee

The purpose of a short service employee program is to identify and prevent injury to new hires and/or temporary workers. Workers with less than six months continuous service in the same job type or less than six months continuous service with their current employer is a Short Service Employee, in most circumstances.

An SSE or Short Service Employee program is incredibly valuable to ensure that newly hired and/or temporary employees are provided with adequate training and knowledge to prevent injury or harm to personnel, property and the environment. It also might be required in the RAVS® for your ISNetworld® account. 

Short Service Employees must learn about the hazards of their specific job duties, how to recognize those hazards and how to minimize exposure. Short Service Employees should be provided with the tools that will help them succeed in the workplace and avoid unnecessary incidents. At the end of the day, everyone should go home safe. 

Some best practices of Short Service Employee management include orientation training, job specific training, mentorship and identification methods.

Most companies assign each SSE  a mentor to help guide new workers along the path of job and company orientation. Mentors provide great examples of how to become a productive and safe employee. 

Mentors are typically responsible to oversee the training and coaching of a new hire, or temporary worker. Mentors often provide the best A mentor should be someone who displays a level of dependability, experience, and a history of safe work, procedural knowledge, and a willingness to work with a new employee. 

Mentors should be responsible for completing an SSE checklist with their mentee over the 6-month period, and relay gathered information to management. 

Common tasks of an SSE Mentor include ensuring the short service employee has gone through the proper orientation, review the written safety program or safety manual with short service employee, explain job expectations, make sure they have completed all required trainings, and ensure they receive written copies of the safety program, drug & alcohol program etc. Mentors also help the SSE get acclimated to the company and guide them through the expectations the company has for all team members.

 At the end of the 6-month period, there will normally be a review and evaluation. If further training is needed, the program can be extended for a short period of time. For graduates, it is good practice to highlight and recognize their achievements. 

Short Service Employees are normally identified on the job site by means of special colored vests or hard hats. Some companies have a ‘green helmet’ program, others use an orange or yellow safety high-vis vest to identify SSEs.

Short Service Employee programs help ensure that everyone on the job site is safe and taking proper precautions when working with someone on the job site who might be new or have less experience than the rest of the crew. 

Employees who demonstrate successful completion of prescribed training and onboarding process may be released from the SSE program. 

If you don’t have an up-to-date, or adequate Short Service Employee program JJ Safety can help. Whether you need an SSE program to enhance your current safety program or to satisfy an auditor like ISNetworld® or Avetta, JJ Safety has you covered. 

Call 866-627-3850 or email sales@jjsafetyllc.com to learn more.