Improving Contractor Knowledge? We Did It Without Budgets!

From Formality to Dialogue: Why the Classic Induction Training Stopped Working

Under conditions of budget optimization and staff reduction, HSE specialists often face an increased workload. Sergey Shcherban, Deputy Chief Engineer for Production Control at the Zapolyarny Mine (Medvezhy Ruchey LLC), faced a situation where conducting induction trainings for thousands of contractor employees began to take up to two-thirds of his working time. At the same time, the classic format of "specialist's monologue — signature in the journal" stopped yielding results: the accident statistics among contractors were growing, and their level of knowledge remained critically low.

The speaker analyzes how a formal approach to briefings leads to a vicious circle: a lack of time forces training to be conducted superficially, which leads to workplace violations, claims work, and new time losses. To break this circle, the mine's team decided to completely transform the process, turning it from passive listening into active knowledge testing.

Two-Stage Barrier: Online Testing and Personal Interview

Instead of requesting additional funding to purchase ready-made training systems, an initiative group of six specialists developed their own solution based on an accessible Russian online platform. The presentation details the new two-stage format of induction training:

• Stage 1: Online testing via QR code. Employees take the test from their smartphones (or duty devices). The database includes 30 in-depth questions on the specifics of the work (electrical installations, working at heights, lifting structures) and a block on the company's cardinal safety rules. The passing score is 25 correct answers.
• Stage 2: Personal dialogue. Those who successfully pass the test are admitted to a short (2-3 minutes) interview with an HSE specialist. Open-ended questions are asked (for example, about the rules for using a fire extinguisher during hot work) to ensure that the knowledge is not just memorized mechanically, but understood.

This approach made it possible to weed out incompetent workers even before they were admitted to a hazardous production facility (HPF). Each contractor has three attempts to pass the test. If the third attempt is unsuccessful, access to the territory is permanently closed.

Implementation Results: Time Savings and Zero Injuries

Sergey shows by the example of his enterprise how the implementation of a free tool radically changed the situation. The time spent by specialists on conducting briefings was reduced by 60%. But the main achievement is that after the system was launched in May, accidents and violations of cardinal safety rules among contractors stopped.

In addition, the nature of interaction with the heads of contractor organizations has changed. Instead of post-factum fines for workplace violations, the mine's specialists now preventively point out gaps in employees' knowledge at the testing stage, motivating contractors to better prepare their personnel using the provided materials (PTEEP, FNP).

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to organize mass online testing of contractors without involving IT specialists and additional budgets?
• What questions to include in the test to eliminate mechanical memorization and realistically assess the level of knowledge?
• How to build the admission process so that contractors themselves are interested in the high-quality preparation of their employees?
• How to technically implement testing if workers do not have smartphones or the enterprise has limited mobile internet?
• How to legitimately introduce new strict requirements for knowledge testing, despite the resistance of contractor organizations?