How many companies have you worked for in your career? How many different projects have you worked on? How many times have you changed occupations – from a fast food worker to a team leader; from a laborer to a carpenter; from a galley hand to a night cook, then to a steward?

Every time you have made one of these changes you’ve faced a higher probability of being injured on the job. Shell defines a Short Service Employee as "Contractor Personnel with less than 6 months in the same job type or less than six months with their present employer". All SSE’s will be assigned a mentor for the first 6 months of employment. Studies show that in heavy industries up to 25% of injuries, or 1 in every 4 workers, will be injured within the first 30 days of starting work. Think of that – the first 30 days!

The majority of you have years of experience, BUT you still fall into this category time and time again. In fact, every time you change companies or change jobs you play the odds, and risk falling into the 1-in-4 statistic. That’s because new hires are not just green, inexperienced workers. They are also people who are new to their occupation, their job, or a specific work environment.

In your profession, you’ve learned the ‘tricks-of-the-trade’ that allow you to work safely and efficiently. How did you learn your trade and the methods that you make you a valuable asset to this company? You probably have some formal training, as well as a lot of on-the-job-training.

OJT means you learned your job from practice and from those already experienced in the trade. Now, as you work beside new hires, it is your experience that must be passed on. Remember, it doesn’t matter whether this person is a 25-year veteran in the business who is simply new to SONOCO, or if they are a green trainee on their first hitch offshore.

Keep a helpful eye on new hires in your crew. Take the time to describe the layout of the project, the best method to access the work, or how to work a tool they have never used before. Everyone wants to learn the best way to do a job. Someone probably showed you how to do things, so take the time to help out your co-worker. When you show your co-worker the safest and smartest way to do a job, it helps to keep you safe as well.

Over 90% of all injuries are caused by an unsafe act – someone doing things the wrong way. How many of these injuries do you think happened because the worker just didn’t know the safest or smartest way to get it done, or didn’t want to ask?

Reduce your chances of becoming an accident statistic by asking questions if you’re new to the job. Help someone else by teaching them the tricks-of-the-trade you’ve learned from your experiences.