The first-week checklist for a new operator in agricultural equipment makers

A new operator decides within days whether a works is worth staying at. Those same days carry the most risk. He can be burnt at the quench tank lip, catch flying scale at the edge grinder, or trap a finger under a cultivator frame. A one-page card, printed and carried in his shirt pocket, keeps the week orderly. It also shows the mistri at a glance what the newcomer has seen and what he has not.

Top of card: name, token number, bay, shift, buddy, mistri, joining date.
DAY ONE, office: joining papers taken, wage day and how pay is calculated explained, shift timings and late rule explained. Initials: office.
DAY ONE, kit: toe-capped boots, goggles or a welding visor, chrome leather gauntlets, ear plugs and a leather apron issued and fitted. Initials: stores.
DAY ONE, walk: bay walked with the buddy. Shown the quench pit, the gantry crane path, mushroom stop buttons, sand buckets, extinguishers and the first-aid box. Initials: buddy.
DAY ONE, people: introduced to mistri, buddy, safety hand and whom to tell about an injury or a broken tool. Initials: mistri.
DAY TWO, watch: stands beside the buddy at one station, perhaps tine deburring, gland fitting or coil strapping. Asks questions. Touches nothing live. Initials: buddy.
DAY THREE, do with help: handles a few parts while the buddy keeps a hand near the stop. Initials: buddy.
DAY FOUR, do under watch: runs a full batch while the buddy watches and checks every part. Initials: buddy.
DAY FIVE, trial: finishes a lot alone, which a senior then gauges, files or flow-tests. First dot entered on the skill grid. Initials: senior hand.
DAY SIX, talk: a few minutes alone with the mistri. What is clear, what is confusing, any problem with kit, pay or people. Initials: mistri.
End of week: sheet signed by HR or the office and filed. Any line left blank is followed up the next week.

Pick a station where a slip costs little and injures nobody. At an implement shop, that might be tine sorting, deburring or masking before the powder coat booth. At a pump works, packing monoblock sets, cleaning impellers or fitting cable glands. At a drip line maker, strapping coils off the winder or boxing emitters. Drop hammers, blanking presses, the oil quench, extruder start-ups and the rotavator test pit all wait for later weeks, once he has passed a trial somewhere gentler.

• Forge and quench: flying scale, the oil tank's hot rim, stray tongs, and shares that seem cool yet still scorch.
• Weld bay: arc flash from the next booth, spatter in shoe tops, earthing clamps on wet floors, and fume where there is no hood.
• Extruder hall: barrel heater bands, the hot die face, nip points at the haul-off and the cutter blade at the coiler.
• Pump works: swarf at the lathe, varnish fumes near the dip tank, and live leads on the test bay panel.
• Test pit and assembly: rotating PTO shafts without guards, rotavator blades turning, and frames hanging from the crane hook.

1. 1

   The office

   Joining papers, wage day, timings and the final filing. Explains pay in the newcomer's own language, not only in writing.

2. 2

   Stores

   Issues kit against his name and fits it properly. Toe-capped shoes that actually fit beat any lecture.

3. 3

   The buddy

   A steady operator from the same bay and shift, chosen by the mistri. Owns days two to four and the bay walk.

4. 4

   The senior hand

   Watches the day five trial and enters the first dot on the skill grid. Should not be the buddy, so the trial is fair.

5. 5

   The mistri

   Introduces people on day one and holds the Saturday talk. Checks that every line carries initials.

A harvester and thresher works pairs each seasonal recruit with a buddy before the peak, as described on the thresher makers' induction page. The office papers are listed in our document list for day one.

• Print on stiff card, one per newcomer, in whichever script most of your hands read.
• Read each line aloud where reading is hard, and let the buddy explain it in his dialect.
• Keep a clipboard per bay where unfinished sheets hang, so the mistri sees who is on which day.
• File the finished sheet in the person's folder. It is the record of what he was shown.
• Use the same card for returning season hands, ticking the lines that only need a refresher.

Week one produces a man trusted at one station, nothing more. Plan the next stations on the skill matrix, one at a time, each with its own watched batch and trial. A brief chat around day thirty catches anyone quietly souring. The forge shop safety page covers weekly kit checks that follow on from day one. Our farm machinery and implements hub sets the induction inside the wider season plan, and our onboarding work helps design the later weeks.