The first-week checklist for a new operator in chemical and specialty chemical makers

A newcomer's opening shifts on a chemical plant settle two things. Does he stay safe while he still knows nothing, and does he stay at all? The checklist below fits on one printed page. The supervisor keeps it on a clipboard, the buddy initials it each evening, and HR files it once the sixth shift closes.

Name, employee code, section, shift, supervisor, buddy, joining date.
Day 1, before the floor: gate pass and ID card issued. Pay date, overtime rule and leave rule explained in the language he speaks at home.
Day 1, gear: helmet, goggles, face shield, gauntlets, apron and safety shoes issued and signed for. Respirator fitted and seal-checked.
Day 1, emergencies: siren tones played and explained. Wind sock pointed out. Assembly points walked. Nearest eyewash and drench shower touched by hand.
Day 1, people: shift in-charge, safety officer, first aider and the person to approach with a worry, each met by name.
Day 2: walk the section with the buddy, tracing pipework from tank farm to reactor. Pipeline colour bands and valve tags read aloud.
Day 2: safety data sheets for the materials he will handle most, read with the buddy, first aid steps repeated back.
Day 3: watch a sample drawn, a transfer started and a drum filled. Ask one question at each.
Day 3: sit through a full shift handover and the permit board review without signing anything.
Day 4: a low-risk task with the buddy watching, for instance a tank dip or a cooling tower round, with readings written on the log sheet.
Day 5: join a field check or toolbox talk. Tell the supervisor what he would do if a line sprayed.
Not yet in week one: break a flange, open a manhole, sign or receive a permit, charge a reactor, load a tanker, work the console alone.
Closing the week: supervisor's note, buddy's note, first skill matrix entries at Aware, and questions still open.
Signatures: new operator, buddy, supervisor. Filed by HR on (date).

Every joiner gets an unmarked copy. The supervisor completes the header the day before arrival, picks the buddy and books the buddy's shifts to match. Each evening the buddy initials what was done and adds one line about anything that went badly. That line gets read before the next morning's muster.

• Plant office or HR: header, gate pass, gear issue record, and the pay and leave talk on day one.
• Safety officer: the emergency walk, the siren tones and the respirator fit, all before lunch on day one.
• Buddy: pipework tracing, data sheets and the tasks watched, initialled each evening.
• Supervisor: the not-yet list, the closing note and the first matrix entries.

The buddy matters more than the paper. Pick an operator who explains without impatience, follows the steps himself and stays on the joiner's rota for all six days. Never give the role to the operator with least to do. Tell the buddy plainly that this is part of his job, lift one routine task off him, and thank him in front of the crew afterwards.

• Which way do you walk when the long siren sounds and the wind sock points at the tank farm?
• Where is the drench shower nearest the acid unloading point, and how long do you stay under it?
• What colour band marks the steam line, the caustic line and the nitrogen header?
• Who signs a permit before a flange is opened, and what do you do if nobody has?
• What would make you stop a transfer and call the in-charge?

• The joiner is sent to fetch drums or sweep the bund on day two because the shift is short.
• The buddy changes every day, so nobody notices what the joiner has or has not seen.
• Gear is issued but the respirator was never fitted, and nobody can say which cartridge it takes.
• The data sheets were handed over in a folder rather than read together.
• The evening line on the sheet stays blank for three days running.

It is not for production. A joiner counted into the crew on day one becomes the helper sent for drums, and the checklist never gets finished. Keep him supernumerary for the week, even when the shift is short. Nor is it for long classroom sessions. Short talks at the valve, the pump and the drum bay, repeated, stick far better than slides in a training room.

Week two moves him from watching to working with the buddy's eyes on him, task by task, with each step recorded. A thirty, sixty and ninety day plan frames the months that follow. The onboarding process shaped for a cleaning chemical plant covers seasonal packers as well as operators. The matrix layout for this group shows where his first grades go, and the chemical makers hub maps the bigger people risks around him.

If you want the checklist and the buddy routine adapted to your own sections, tell us how many joiners you expect this year.