The first-week checklist for a new operator in foundries and casting units

A young man joins a gravity die casting cell on a Monday. Nobody has time for him, so he gets a pair of gloves and an instruction to watch. By Wednesday he has reached across a preheated die bare-armed, flinched at the splash from a tilting pour and eaten lunch alone. On Thursday his place at the fettling bench is empty. The unit has lost a recruit and has no idea why.

Early leavers in casting units tend to go inside the first week. Heat shock, fear of molten metal, nobody to ask and no picture of what the job becomes are the usual causes. A single printed page, used every time, answers most of them. Print the checklist below, keep one per new operator, and let the buddy tick it shift by shift.

Name, section, shift, buddy, supervisor, joining date.
Day 1, gate: identity card, shift timings, canteen and drinking water shown, transport home confirmed.
Day 1, gear: safety boots, spats or leg gaiters, leather or aluminised apron, face shield, heat gloves, ear plugs and dust mask, each one tried on and adjusted.
Day 1, hot-metal walk: furnace platform, tapping spout, ladle route painted on the floor, pouring aisle, knockout grid, crane path, cooling bed.
Day 1, three habits: nothing damp goes near molten metal; nobody stands in the ladle route; nobody walks under a crane load.
Day 1, emergencies: burns station, first-aid box, dry sand bin for spills, fire exits, the shout that stops the pour.
Day 2: shadow the buddy on cold work all shift, such as riddling sand, carrying empty moulding boxes or clearing the knockout grid.
Day 3: one cold task alone with the buddy in sight; watch a tap and a pour from behind the painted line.
Day 4: help on one hot task, such as skimming dross or holding a sprue cutter, with the buddy beside and full gear on.
Day 5: the same hot task again; the buddy corrects any unsafe move on the spot and notes it here.
Day 6: fifteen-minute talk with supervisor or HR away from the furnace; wages, leave and the first grade step explained.
Day 6: skill matrix row opened at A or B; hot-metal induction date written in.
Day 6: thirty-day review date agreed and written here.
Signatures: joiner, buddy, supervisor, and today's date.

Someone who has never seen wet scrap hit a bath does not know it can throw metal across the bay. That makes him a danger to himself from the first hour. Drill the three habits first, then repeat them on days two and three. Fit the gear on the person rather than passing it over in a plastic bag. A visor that fogs, or boots that rub, will be off by Tuesday afternoon.

Day one is also when the joiner decides whether a second day is worth it. Show where the water cooler, the toilet and the bus stop are. Introduce the buddy by name while the crew is listening. Say what the wage is, which day it lands and what reaching level C would add. Ten minutes of plain facts here outweigh any welcome speech.

• Same shift, same section. A buddy on another roster is a buddy on paper only.
• Steady, not quick. Prefer a patient hand with no burns on record over the fastest moulder in the bay.
• Told the limits. The buddy knows that ladles, dies and the furnace platform wait until day four.
• Given slack. Lower the buddy's own box or shot count for the week, or the joiner ends up standing idle.
• Thanked out loud. A word at the shift meeting, and a small allowance where your unit pays one, shows the floor that this work counts.

1. 1

   Supervisor prints a fresh copy

   One per joiner, the day before they start, with the buddy's name filled in.

2. 2

   Buddy ticks during the shift

   Lines are ticked as each item is done, never on Saturday from recollection. A skipped line gets a circle.

3. 3

   Supervisor clears circles daily

   A circle on day one, say ill-fitting boots, is put right before the joiner's next shift starts.

4. 4

   HR files it on day six

   The signed sheet joins the personnel file; the matrix row and the review date are keyed in.

5. 5

   Every joiner, every time

   Own staff, contractor hands and returning workers alike. A furnace hand back after a season in his village walks the hot-metal route again.

Choose the canteen or the office, well away from furnace roar. Keep it short. Ask what was hardest, what nobody explained and whether any moment frightened him. Ask about the journey and about sleep. Then sketch the next month: which tasks come next, what sign-off at level C involves, and when the thirty-day review falls. Note any promise made, and keep it.

At thirty days, ask the same questions again and check that the matrix row has moved. A one-page week like this grows into a full joining routine through our onboarding design service. Staged sign-offs for wax and shell room hands appear in onboarding for investment casting foundries. Paperwork on joining sits in a separate joining checklist. For why heat pushes so many new hands out early, start from the foundry HR overview.