If you onboard fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers, you already know how tight the timeline can be. A worker accepts an offer, and you might have a week or less to get them cleared for site. In that time, you need their contract signed, their tickets and medicals checked, and their induction done.
Most of the time, you get there. But it often takes more chasing than it should. A document comes in the wrong format. An approval sits in an inbox over the weekend. One site asks for something the other site didn’t.
None of these steps can be skipped, and they shouldn’t be. What you can change is how you handle them. In this article, we look at the challenges that make FIFO onboarding different, and the practical ways to streamline your employee onboarding process so workers get to site sooner.
The basics of onboarding FIFO workers are the same as for any new hire: contracts, tax details and policies. But the timelines are tighter, and the stakes are higher. It’s one reason generic tools often struggle with site-based recruitment and onboarding.
An office hire might have a month or more between offer and day one. FIFO workers often have far less. Project mobilisations and shutdowns run to fixed dates, and the work can’t wait for paperwork to catch up.
That leaves little room for back-and-forth. If a new starter has to ask the same question twice, or wait days for a contract, the start date is already at risk. Volume makes it harder. When you’re onboarding dozens of people for the same swing, every small delay repeats across every file.
This is where a clear, simple process earns its keep. The less a new starter has to work out alone, the sooner they finish, and the sooner they’re cleared to fly.
Before a worker can step onto site, you need proof they’re qualified and fit for the job. That usually means:
Each site may have its own list. A worker cleared for one project might need extra checks for the next. Getting it wrong creates a safety risk as well as extra admin.
Site inductions add another layer. Workers need to know the site’s safety procedures, emergency processes, and rules before they arrive. Good induction software lets you share this content early, so their day one is about the work rather than the paperwork.
FIFO onboarding also sits alongside a lot of moving parts. Flights, rosters, accommodation and transfers all need to line up with the start date. Different teams or providers often handle each one.
When onboarding runs late, it puts pressure on all of them. A worker who isn’t cleared in time may miss their flight, and the roster has to change. The more reliable your onboarding is, the easier it is for everyone else to plan around it.
A streamlined onboarding process doesn’t mean fewer checks. It means each check happens once, in the right order, with less chasing. Here are four ways to get there, plus a simple checklist. If you’re not sure where your process is slowing down, reviewing these common onboarding mistakes is a good place to start.
Paper forms and email attachments are where FIFO onboarding loses the most time. Files go missing. Scans are hard to read. Someone has to rename, sort and file every document by hand.
Digital onboarding replaces this with one secure portal. New starters upload their tickets, licences, medicals and personal details online. You can see what’s in and what’s missing at a glance. No more digging through inboxes the night before a flight.
It’s easier for workers too. Many FIFO workers are mid-swing or live far from your office. Letting them complete everything from their phone, in their own time, removes a big barrier.
Much of the delay in onboarding is waiting: for a new starter to finish a form, for a manager to sign off a contract, or for someone to notice a file is stuck.
Onboarding automation takes that waiting out of your hands. Task reminders nudge new starters to finish what’s outstanding. Notifications tell managers when something needs their attention. Approval routing sends offers and contracts to the right people in the right order, without anyone forwarding emails.
The result is fewer follow-ups and a clear view of where every file sits. It also helps when key people are away. If a manager is out on site or on leave, you can spot the hold-up straight away and act on it.
Many FIFO roles come around again with each swing or shutdown. If you’ve already worked with good people, you want to reach them again quickly.
Talent pooling on the recruitment side helps you keep track of past workers and candidates you’d like to bring back. When the next project lands, you can start with people you know.
When each site or team runs onboarding its own way, things slip through the cracks. One site asks for a document another forgets. One manager approves by email, another by phone.
Onboarding templates fix this. Set up your onboarding steps by role, site, or business unit once, and every new worker follows the same path. A plant operator gets the steps their role needs, and a site administrator gets theirs.
Consistency also makes your records easier to trust. When every file follows the same steps, you can see who has completed what. You’re not relying on one person’s memory of how a particular site does things.
Use this onboarding checklist as a starting point and adapt it to your sites:
At BigRedSky, we build onboarding software for teams that need to move quickly without losing control. It’s configurable and easy to use, so you don’t need a large HR team or a complex enterprise system to run it. And when you need help, you’ll talk to real people.
Here’s how our employee onboarding software supports each step above:
Offer letters and contracts are generated automatically through our Contract Express integration. It covers both casual and permanent roles, so you’re not building each contract by hand.
New starters use a branded, secure, mobile-responsive candidate portal to accept their offer, enter their tax and superannuation details and upload their documents. Two-factor authentication helps keep their information protected.
Configurable approval workflows route contracts through managers, HR and leadership. Email notifications tell each person when it’s their turn to act, and every signature is timestamped.
Onboarding templates are pre-configured by role type, so each new starter gets the right steps without being set up from scratch. Induction workflows can be set by role, business unit or location, including contractor induction. You can share safety procedures, policy documents and training videos before day one, while structured induction task lists with automated reminders keep everyone on track.
Once onboarding is complete, the information hands off to your HR, payroll or workforce system through our integrations. That’s where ongoing compliance is managed, such as keeping licences and medicals up to date. Onboarding collects the right information at the start, and your other systems take it from there.
FIFO onboarding is the process of getting fly-in, fly-out workers ready to start on site. It covers contracts, personal details, compliance documents, medicals and site inductions, usually within a much tighter timeframe than standard onboarding.
Collect documents digitally through one portal, automate reminders and approvals, and use templates so every site follows the same steps. This cuts down the chasing without removing any checks.
At a minimum, it should include a signed contract, tax and super details, identity documents, tickets and licences, medicals, a site induction, policy sign-offs and the hand-off to payroll.
Getting FIFO workers to site faster isn’t about cutting corners. Every ticket, medical and induction still matters. What changes is how you collect them.
When you collect the right information once, early, and the same way across every site, delays shrink. Workers know what they need to do, managers know when to act, and HR spends less time chasing and more time planning for the next mobilisation.
If your team is still juggling emails, spreadsheets and paper forms before every shutdown, there’s a simpler way.
Talk to the BigRedSky team and see how our onboarding and recruitment software can help you get FIFO workers site-ready faster.
