The first-week checklist for a new operator in rubber product makers

A new operator in a rubber plant decides very fast whether to return. Heat off the platens, the hiss of steam, the sulphur smell of curing and the thud of a closing press all arrive together. Most first-week trouble is small and avoidable. A forearm burnt on a mould half that nobody pointed out. A wage date nobody mentioned. A buddy called away to a changeover. A printed sheet, initialled line by line, heads off most of it.

The sheet below fits on one side of A4. It suits a compression press bay, an extruder line or a trimming hall, and the add-on lines adapt it for hose, belt, gasket and silicone work. Print a fresh copy for each joiner, clip it to a clipboard and hang it at the in-charge's desk before they arrive.

Joiner, token number, area, shift, buddy, second buddy, in-charge, start date: ________.
Day 1, HR: joining papers taken, wage date and any piece element explained, lanyard issued, kit signed for: heat-resistant gloves, cotton sleeves, safety shoes, eye protection.
Day 1, in-charge: walk of the bay naming every hot platen, transfer pot, steam valve, emergency stop, fire point and assembly point.
Day 1, buddy: drinking water, toilets, canteen, shift bus point, and whom to tell when feeling unwell.
Day 2, buddy: joiner watches full cure cycles and reads the press card aloud: platen temperature, cure time, pressure, bump count.
Day 2, buddy: joiner handles cooled parts only, learns which tag colour goes in which reject bin, and sees how sparingly mould-release spray is used.
Day 3, buddy: joiner loads preforms cut on the guillotine, with the buddy's hands alongside, and strips parts with a brass pick, fork or air gun.
Day 3, in-charge: first talk using the five questions.
Day 4, buddy: half a shift at the trimming tables, learning the limit sample and the names for spew, short fill, blister and trapped air.
Day 5, buddy: joiner runs one simple tool for an hour under watch, and the buddy jots down what went well and what did not.
Day 6, in-charge and HR: end-of-week talk, and both sign what the joiner may and may not do next week.
Off limits in week one: running a press alone, mould changes, the mill or kneader, the burst test cage, crane or hoist lifts.
Signed: joiner ________. Buddy ________. In-charge ________. HR ________. Date ________.

• HR owns the papers, the pay explanation and the kit record. A joiner unsure when the first wage arrives is already looking at the gate.
• The buddy owns the hands-on lines. Choose a patient operator on the newcomer's crew and shift, not simply the fastest pair of hands.
• The in-charge owns the hot-surface walk, the day-three talk and the decision on week two. Those lines never pass to the buddy.
• The joiner signs last, and only for lines they agree really happened.

1. 1

   Print it before day one

   Fill in the name, area, both buddies and the in-charge beforehand, and walk the buddy through the six days. Someone told of the role that same morning cannot do it properly.

2. 2

   Keep it on the clipboard

   The clipboard lives at the in-charge's desk, not in an office drawer. The people initialling lines need it within reach every shift.

3. 3

   Initial on the day, never ahead

   A line ticked in advance proves nothing. When a breakdown or a rush order pushes a day back, move the line and write the reason.

4. 4

   File it after day six

   HR stores the signed copy alongside the joining papers and copies the week-two limits onto the skill matrix.

5. 5

   Sharpen it with every intake

   Ask the two latest joiners what was missing. Add a line or drop one, so the sheet never spills onto a second page.

• By the closing hour, how bad is the heat?
• Has your buddy stayed beside you, or been called away?
• Is anything about pay, shift times or the bus still unclear?
• Have you touched a hot platen or had a close call with a mould?
• What one thing would make tomorrow easier?

Ask away from the press, in whatever language the joiner finds easiest, and note each answer in a line. Fix what can be fixed that day, such as a missing glove size, a torn sleeve or a bus timing.

• Platen temperature: the figure on the card, and the pyrometer reading the in-charge takes to check it.
• Cure time: set on the timer, ending with the hooter. Opening before it sounds gives an under-cured part that looks fine.
• Bump count: how many times the press eases open early in the cycle to let trapped gas escape. Skipped bumping leaves blisters in thick sections.
• Preform weight: too light gives a short fill, too heavy gives thick spew and a sore trimming hand.
• Release spray interval: a light mist every few lifts, never a soaking, which stains the parts and the overflow grooves.

The joiner reads each line aloud with the buddy at least twice on day two. By the end of the week they should explain all five without the card.

• Hose line: mandrel lifting with sleeves on, coil handling in pairs, and the autoclave door watched from a safe distance only.
• Belt plant: exclusion zones beneath crane loads, hand signals, and the calender nip shown with the rolls stopped.
• Gasket die cutting: the start-of-job check of die, sheet thickness and part number, observed but not yet signed by the joiner.
• Silicone clean area: gowning order, when to change gloves, covered trays, and the rule for crossing between rooms.
• Mixing room visits: soapstone or talc dusting and the anti-tack dip seen from outside the guard, never touched in week one.

These six days open a longer plan. For the full first month, see our thirty-day plan for rubber plant joiners. Inductions for compression press bays appear on press bay inductions for moulders, and gowning and tray rules under silicone unit onboarding. For the papers to collect before the first shift, adapt our joining checklist. Everything else that shapes people work in rubber plants is gathered on the rubber products overview.