Free template
New hire onboarding checklist (manufacturing)
A new hire onboarding checklist lists everything a new employee needs from the week before they start to the end of their first three months, so nothing depends on who happens to be on shift. This one is written for a plant: 29 items in six stages. Before day 1: paperwork, badge, PPE sizes, a buddy and a training plan. Day 1: introductions, a site tour, the safety induction, PPE issue, lockout/tagout awareness and the policies. Week 1: the first tasks trained on the job, the quality standard, the area standards and the daily meeting. Then the 30, 60 and 90-day reviews, with tasks signed off on the skills matrix and a development plan. Each item has space for who owns it, the date and initials. The Excel version works out each item's due date from the start date, flags the overdue ones and shows progress by stage.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use an onboarding checklist
- For every new hire on the shop floor, including temporary and agency workers.
- When people move to a new department or site and need a shorter version.
- When several people share onboarding (HR, the supervisor, safety, a trainer and a buddy) and need to know who does what.
- When new hires leave in their first months and you want to see what their start looked like.
How to fill it in
- 1
Adapt the items
Cross out what does not apply, add your site's own items, and write the owner of each.
- 2
Get ready before day 1
Paperwork, badge, PPE, a briefed buddy and a draft training plan, so the first day is spent on the job and on safety.
- 3
Put safety first on day 1
The site tour, the safety induction, PPE and lockout awareness come before any work.
- 4
Train the first tasks in week 1
A few tasks trained properly on the job, with the work instructions, and a check-in at the end of the week.
- 5
Review at 30, 60 and 90 days
Tasks signed off on the skills matrix, questions answered, feedback both ways and the next tasks agreed.
- 6
Ask for feedback
At 90 days, ask the new hire what would have helped, and change the checklist.
What's on the checklist
The 29 items on the new hire onboarding checklist
Six stages from the week before the start to the 90-day review. On the sheet each item has space for who owns it, the date and initials; cross out what does not apply and add your site's own.
Before day 1
Get ready
- 1Employment paperwork sent and returned, as required where you are
- 2Start date, shift, start time and who to ask for confirmed with the new hire
- 3Badge, locker and any system logins set up
- 4PPE sizes asked for and the PPE ready
- 5Buddy chosen and briefed
- 6Training plan for the first 90 days drafted
Day 1
Welcome, and safety first
- 7Welcome, and introductions to the team and the supervisor
- 8Site tour: exits, muster point, first aid, restrooms, break room
- 9Safety induction: site hazards, emergency procedures, how to report an injury or near miss
- 10PPE issued, fitted, and how to look after it
- 11Lockout/tagout awareness: what a lock and tag mean, and never to remove one
- 12Company policies, pay, breaks and how to report an absence
- 13Meets the buddy and walks the work area with them
Week 1
First tasks
- 14First tasks trained on the job, using the work instructions
- 15What good looks like: the quality standard, and how to stop and raise a problem
- 165S and the area standards explained
- 17Joins the daily team meeting
- 18Forklift and pedestrian traffic rules in the area
- 19End-of-week check-in with the supervisor
30 days
Settling in
- 20First tasks signed off and added to the skills matrix
- 2130-day review held with the supervisor
- 22Questions and concerns asked for, and answered
- 23Next tasks to learn agreed
60 days
Building skills
- 24More tasks trained and signed off
- 25Safety refresher or observation with the supervisor
- 26Feedback both ways: what is working and what is not
90 days
Part of the team
- 2790-day review: qualified tasks, strengths and what to work on
- 28Development plan for the next six months
- 29Feedback on the onboarding asked for, and used to improve it
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: onboarding a machine operator on a stamping line (illustrative).
- Before day 1: safety shoes and gloves ordered in the right sizes, a buddy from the same shift briefed, and a plan to train three presses over eight weeks.
- Day 1: safety induction, PPE fitted and a walk of the line with the buddy; no press work.
- Week 1: trained on press 1 with the job breakdown; end-of-week check-in raised a question about overtime that HR answered the same day.
- 30 days: press 1 signed off at level 3; 90 days: presses 1 and 2 signed off and press 3 in training.
The 90-day feedback asked for the break schedule on day 1 instead of week 1, and the checklist was changed for the next hire.
Common mistakes
A first day of paperwork
Get the paperwork done before day 1 where you can, and spend the first day on people, safety and the job.
No owner for each item
Items with no owner fall between HR and the supervisor. Write a name next to each.
Too many tasks in week 1
Train a few tasks well rather than showing everything once.
Stopping after week 1
The 30, 60 and 90-day reviews are where problems surface. Keep them in the diary.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite safety orientations, quality standards and One-Point Lessons go to a new hire as a learning plan with quiz scores and completion visible before day one on the floor, and OJT checklists are signed off at the machine.
In the lean glossary
Free tools
FAQ
New hire onboarding checklist (manufacturing): common questions
More free templates
All templates- 5S audit checklist template25 checks, five per S, scored 1 to 5, with a score summary and a chart of the five S's.
- Gemba walk checklistA walk plan and route, 30 prompts in six groups and a findings table with owners and due dates.
- Leader standard work templateA team leader's daily, weekly and monthly routine with a box per day, follow-ups and a weekly review.
- Autonomous maintenance (CILR) checklist20 clean, inspect, lubricate and retighten checks with a box per day, an abnormality log and sign-off.
- A3 problem solving templateThe standard seven-box A3 on one landscape sheet, from background to follow-up.
- PDCA templateOne improvement cycle on one landscape page: plan, do, check against the goal, then standardize or adjust.
- 5 Whys templateA problem statement, five why rows with evidence, the root cause and the countermeasure.
- 5W1H templateSix questions with prompts and evidence, turned into a problem statement before the root cause analysis.
- 8D report templateD0 to D8 on three pages: team, is/is not, containment, occurrence and escape causes, actions and closure.
- Poka-yoke worksheetEach step's possible errors, prevention or detection, the method, a device idea and a verified box.
- Skills matrix templatePeople by skills, a 0 to 4 scale, a training column and a coverage row that shows the gaps.
- Standard work sheet templateTakt time, each element's manual, machine and walk time on a time chart, key points and standard WIP.
- One point lesson (OPL) templateOne topic on one page: wrong way and right way pictures, key points, why it matters and a sign-off record.
- SMED changeover worksheetChangeover steps with times, internal or external, what can move, ideas and before/after totals.
- Kaizen event charter templateScope, team and roles, baseline and target metrics, a five-day schedule, risks and sign-off.
- RACI matrix template17 kaizen project tasks by 10 roles, with R, A, C, I drop-downs and a check for one accountable per task.
- Layered process audit (LPA) checklist20 yes, no or N/A checks at the station, a fixed-on-the-spot box, scores by group and a findings table.
- PFMEA template (process FMEA)Failure modes, effects and causes rated for severity, occurrence and detection, with RPN before and after action.
- 5S red tag log and red tagsA log of every red-tagged item with its decision, and six printable red tags to cut out.
- Shift handover templateProduction against plan, safety, quality, equipment, materials and people, and the open issues the next shift takes over.
- Kanban card templateSix production and six withdrawal kanban cards to print and cut out, with loop sizing and a card register.
- Pareto chart templateA tally sheet, the categories sorted largest first with cumulative %, and the chart. Excel does the sorting and drawing.
- Control plan templateWhat is checked at each step, against which limits, how, how often, and what to do when a result is out.
- Corrective action request (CAPA) formProblem, containment, root cause, corrective and preventive action, and proof the fix worked, on two pages.
- Idea suggestion formA one-page idea form with the supervisor's answer and points, and an idea log that tracks days to answer.
- Just Do It (JDI) card templateSix Just Do It cards per sheet for quick fixes, with the rules for what counts and a log of every card.
- Quick kaizen templateOne page for a small improvement: before and after, the cause, the countermeasure, the results and whether the standard changed.
- Time study sheetTime each element over 10 cycles and work out the average, lowest repeatable and standard time. Excel does the sums.
- Spaghetti diagram templateSquared paper to trace every trip, a tally of trips and distance, and a before and after comparison.
- OEE tracking sheetOne row per shift for a week. The Excel version works out availability, performance, quality and OEE and charts the week.
- Near miss report formA two-page near miss report from the first report to closure, and an Excel log with status and days open.
- Safety observation card templateFour behavior-based safety cards per sheet, with safe and at-risk checks, the conversation and a tally sheet.
- Job safety analysis (JSA) templateJob steps, hazards, risk scored before and after the controls, the hierarchy of controls, PPE and sign-off.
- Risk assessment matrix template (5×5)A color-coded 5 × 5 severity and likelihood matrix, a scoring guide and a risk register.
- Incident investigation report templateWhat happened, people, evidence and timeline, root cause with 5 Whys and contributing factors, actions and sign-off.
- Toolbox talk templateA record of a short safety talk: topic, key points, questions raised, actions and an attendee sign-in sheet.
- Lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedure templateA machine-specific LOTO procedure: energy sources and isolation points, the steps from shutdown to restart, and the annual review.
- Forklift inspection checklist23 pre-shift checks for a week on one page, a do-not-operate rule, and a defect and repair log.
- Non-conformance report (NCR) formA two-page NCR from the requirement against what was found to disposition and closure, and an Excel NCR log.
- CAPA log templateAn Excel CAPA tracker with status, days open, late flags and counts by source, plus a printable log and monthly review.
- Supplier corrective action request (SCAR) formA SCAR from the problem and containment asked for to the supplier's 8D-style response, verification and closure.
- First article inspection (FAI) report templatePart information, a ballooned characteristic table with tolerances and results, material and process certificates, and sign-off.
- Preventive maintenance checklist templateA PM checklist per machine with readings and sign-off, and a PM schedule that works out the next due date.
- Equipment downtime log (MTTR and MTBF)A breakdown and downtime log, with MTTR, MTBF and downtime by machine and cause worked out in Excel.
- Environmental aspects and impacts registerAn ISO 14001-style register of aspects and impacts, with significance scoring, legal requirements, controls and owners.
- Manufacturing process instruction (MPI) templateOperation steps with parameters, tools, quality checks, safety and a photo each, plus revision history and approval.
- Engineering process instruction (EPI) templateScope, parameters and limits, equipment and materials, validation steps, acceptance criteria, change history and approvals.
- Training sign-off sheetAn attendance and sign-off record where each person signs they understood, with a competence check and an Excel log.
- On-the-job training (OJT) checklistA job breakdown and the four TWI Job Instruction steps with sign-offs, the tries and the date the trainee qualified.
- Competency assessment formEach task rated 0 to 4 on the skills matrix scale with the evidence seen, then the gaps and a training plan.
- Cross-training plan templateWho is learning which task, from and to which level, by when, and how many are qualified on each task.
- Absenteeism tracker templateA monthly attendance grid with codes, absence rate by person and team, and an optional Bradford factor.
Can't find the template you need?
Tell us what you're looking for. We'll make it and send it to your inbox, free.
A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.