The first-week checklist for a new operator in aerospace and defence component makers

A new hand in an aerospace or defence shop usually arrives with machine hours or a diploma, not with this unit's habits. Your traveller layout is new to him. So is the rule about which drawing cabinet he may open. Nobody has told him that a scribbled correction can strand a perfect bracket at dispatch. Much early scrap, and many early resignations, trace back to a first week left to luck.

Print the sheet below for every operator joiner and give it to the supervisor on the Friday before he starts. It suits machinists, sheet-metal fitters, solderers and harness hands. Swap the trade lines to match.

Joiner name, trade, shift, start date, supervisor, buddy (one named senior on the same shift).
Before Monday: locker, safety shoes, goggles or ESD smock, ear defenders, and a stamp or login request raised.
Monday morning: joining papers signed, gate pass issued, bay-by-bay walk with the supervisor.
Monday afternoon: safety induction logged; fire points, eyewash, first aid box, machine guards, lock-out tags, fume arms and ESD zones shown.
Monday: drawing cabinet rule explained; which drawers, folders and screens this role may open, and what never leaves the gate.
Tuesday: papers that ride with a batch; traveller, revision letter, batch card, mill certificate and red nonconformance tag.
Tuesday: shadow the buddy on a live job for the full shift; ask freely, touch nothing alone.
Wednesday: complete a dummy traveller for a simple part, with one correction made the house way.
Wednesday: practise the trade task on offcut bar, scrap sheet, dead boards or a trial coupon, never on live stock.
Thursday: gauge crib; drawing a plug gauge, micrometer or torque screwdriver, reading its calibration sticker, returning it signed.
Thursday: revision handshake at the machine or bench; matching the drawing letter in hand to the planner's list.
Friday: first supervised live task, buddy alongside, supervisor checking the traveller entry before the part moves.
Saturday: review with the supervisor; what went well, what is hazy, which lines remain unticked.
Skill matrix row opened, with code 1 against each operation watched.
Signatures of supervisor and joiner, date; sheet handed to the office.
Every unticked line moved into week two carrying an owner and a deadline.

• Safety on Monday. A joiner shown the fume arm switch and the eyewash on day one is likelier to report a near miss in month three.
• Cabinet rules before need. Explaining controlled drawings before anyone asks keeps the rule impersonal, not a verdict on him.
• Paper before parts. Reading a traveller on Tuesday means Friday's first live stamp is not a guess.
• Offcuts, not stock. Scrap practice removes the dread of spoiling titanium sheet or a populated card.
• One named buddy. A single senior on the same shift beats a vague offer to ask anybody.

1. 1

   HR prepares the sheet and the paperwork

   Joining papers, gate pass, locker and the printed sheet sit ready before Monday. The office also files the signed sheet on Saturday.

2. 2

   The supervisor owns the week

   Ticks each line the moment it is done, never in a Saturday catch-up. Sets up the dummy traveller and the offcut practice.

3. 3

   The buddy teaches by doing

   Lets the joiner shadow, explains each step aloud and flags anything the joiner seems unsure about.

4. 4

   The inspector gives one short session

   On travellers, stamps and corrections, ideally using a real returned traveller with names masked.

Defence component makers often widen access in stages as trust builds, and this sheet slots inside that staging. Papers and probation are handled in the general employee onboarding process.

Watch the second and third weeks for warning signals. The joiner asks a neighbour to stamp for him. He borrows a micrometer from a drawer instead of the crib. He leaves a red-tagged part on the conveyor, or opens a cabinet outside his role. None of these is misconduct yet. Each points to a Monday-to-Saturday line that was rushed or skipped. Go back to that line, repeat it with the buddy, and tick it again with a fresh date. Quiet joiners rarely admit confusion, so the supervisor should ask one direct question every evening: what was unclear today? A two-minute answer at the clocking point catches what a monthly review would miss.

Small objects make the week concrete. Hand the joiner his own deburring tool, a marked locker key and a pocket notebook. If the role needs a personal stamp, it waits in the supervisor's drawer until Friday. Show him the swarf bin, the coolant top-up point, the scrap bin and the caged hold shelf. Tangible items anchor rules better than a talk in the canteen.

A CNC machinist adds work offsets, swarf hooks and the emergency stop sequence. A sheet-metal fitter adds press-brake light curtains and glove rules at the shear. A solderer adds the wrist-strap tester and microscope breaks. A welder adds fume arm placement and screen positioning, and the fabrication safety page lists habits worth checking there.

Keep the buddy beside him for the first month. Review his travellers weekly until they return clean. Raise matrix codes only on inspected work. Other onboarding pressures in this group are on the aerospace and defence components page. To shape an induction for your own floor, use the requirements form.