What to brief an agency worker on before their first shift

Share the job requirements before arrival

Give the agency an accurate description of the work, relevant skills and any site-specific requirements. Avoid booking a general role and discovering during service that you need specialist competence. HSE's Great Britain guidance says employers should share information about required skills, risks and controls with the agency.

Check what was actually communicated when the worker arrives. Ask about experience relevant to today's tasks, without treating a job title as proof that every activity is familiar. Resolve any mismatch with the agency and the responsible manager before assigning unsuitable work.

Further reading: HSE: new-starter guidance for agency workers

Explain the site, not the whole company history

Prioritise what the worker needs for this shift: supervisor, work area, emergency arrangements, approved information, task boundaries and the way to report a problem. Make sure access to necessary instructions works before the supervisor leaves.

A kitchen-worker anecdote involving an agency colleague and an unidentified item shows the danger of assuming local knowledge. The account is not evidence of safe practice. Your briefing should make clear that unknown items or instructions are checked through the approved process rather than identified by guesswork.

Use a practical task to check the handover

Choose a relevant task and watch how the worker approaches it. For a shop packing role, ask them to find the exact item code, identify the order reference and explain where a mismatch goes. For food work, use the approved site method and appropriate competent supervision.

The exercise is not a test of whether they can remember your shelf layout after one walk-through. It checks whether the information and help route are usable. Correct the local detail while you are together.

Temporary worker site brief
Worker, date and role:
Supervisor and backup:
Relevant experience discussed:
Tasks agreed for this shift:
Tasks excluded or needing supervision:
Site instructions and information location:
Practical check completed:
Uncertainty or issue to resolve:
Next check-in:

Name a supervisor for the whole shift

The manager who greets the worker may leave before the shift ends. Tell the incoming supervisor what was covered, any restrictions and where the worker still needs help. Do not assume the worker will explain their own induction status to every colleague.

Make the worker's route for raising a concern straightforward. If the nominated supervisor is occupied, identify a backup. A temporary colleague should not have to choose between interrupting an unknown manager and continuing with a task they do not understand.

Close the loop with useful feedback

At the end of the shift, record factual issues that affect future assignments: access that failed, a task requiring additional instruction or a skill the role genuinely needed. Share relevant operational feedback through the appropriate manager and agency contact.

If the same briefing problem recurs with several people, change the brief or the job description. Repeated confusion at the same workstation may be a local information problem. Build a short reusable site brief, but retain the conversation and practical check that make it meaningful for the person in front of you.