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New Operator - Training Validation

Discussion in 'Training - Internal, External and Web-Based' started by Rajesh A, Oct 7, 2015.

  1. Rajesh A

    Rajesh A Member

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    Hello All,

    I need some recommendation / guidance to validate a new operator deployed in the assembly line.

    Situation: The new joined operator they are giving one day induction training about product knowledge and three days he works with trained operator to understand the process and after one week – The Production team said the new person is trained. The Quality supervisor / inspector need to validate the new person.

    How to validate the newly deployed person training and skill level in the systematic way – I need some suggestions.

    Thanks in advance.

    Rajesh
     
  2. Emmyd

    Emmyd Member

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    Perhaps a request from Quality that the new person demonstrate their knowledge; observation of the operator by Quality personnel; written quiz for the new operator. We use sign off sheets that both the trainer and trainee have to sign off on when they have shown demonstrative knowledge of their specific job.
     
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  3. Rajesh A

    Rajesh A Member

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    Hello Emmyd, Today, there is no specific check list / Questions available for Quiz in the company, so can we create our own check list / questions for Quiz. And what will be the criteria / rating we can to fix, if the new person is not meeting the knowledge requirement. Is it the Quiz Questions only related to work content, work related failures or can we ask about basic quality and safety points. Since he is new operator. (Most of the cases On job training only provided with trained operator in the line) - Thanks.
     
  4. Eric Twiname

    Eric Twiname Well-Known Member

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    Perhaps an inspection of a sample of parts coming out of their station?

    If the definition of "trained" is "performs adequately"...measure the performance by means of analyzing the output (both in quantity and quality).
    If appropriate, a measure of machine wear, tooling wear, etc. can also be part of it ("Has adequate throughput and quality, but tools are damaged in the process")
     
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  5. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    Not many people enjoy or excel at tests or quizzes...personally, my mind blanks out on quizzes. I hate them...loathe them...detest them...dread them. In some cases, however, they are required (perhaps for regulatory or legislated reasons), however for an Operator, there are several ways to conduct this assessment of skills.

    Is the process documented? Can the Operator be shadowed by the supervisor to determine if the steps are followed correctly and safely? This would allow for a quick "at a glance" determination of any activities requiring re-training...with the new Operator and even the one who conducted the training (i.e., what if the existing Operator trained incorrectly?).

    I'm a big fan of Eric's suggestion, too, regarding performance. If the new Operator - over a certain period of time (I've seen this range from 1 week to 90 days) - has his performance assessed regarding quality and safety (i.e., no nonconforming parts or safety violations), then perhaps you can consider the Operator trained and competent. The downside to this is determining do you wait to analyze the data until the time period is over (reactive) or determine a more proactive (but heavy on the regular analysis) approach?
     
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  6. Emmyd

    Emmyd Member

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    So how do you know if an operator is trained today? Does the trainer have an informal list of things that they cover with the new operator? Most likely the answer is yes, but it may not be documented anywhere. So, you could sit down with the trainer, come up with a checklist of things the new operator should be able to do after they have been trained. Then, as a means of validation, someone from Quality can take this checklist and ask the new operator to perform the job tasks and the Quality person can compare to the list. This would eliminate a potential quiz.
     
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  7. Rajesh A

    Rajesh A Member

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    Yes, we can do the sample inspection of parts coming out of their station. The person is working with respect to documented work instruction. As long as there is no issue in the process parts are ok, if any abnormal noticed, what need to be done. - This reaction plan is missing with operator, since the document is not having all the failure cases with reaction plan. - This gap in the document. He is learning based on the hands on experience. When asking engineering team, in all the cases reaction plan will not be provided, Work instruction will say only what need to done. Whether the reaction plan and process and product issues will be trained part of training or we do document all the reaction plan in documents for training.?
     
  8. Rajesh A

    Rajesh A Member

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    I prefer towards proactive approach, How can we assess the operator working in certain period, criteria to check in 1st week, 2nd week and next coming weeks, by asking the same questions on the process and product knowledge about his routine work content..
     
  9. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Rajesh - training is like throwing mud at a wall. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes not. What's the aim of training? It's to improve competency, so validation comes from improved competency...
     
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  10. Nikki

    Nikki Well-Known Member

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    Our company recently implemented an 1 - 8 week training & verification process. We have created a document where it defines what an operator in training should know and understand after one week of training, and then two weeks, and so on for 8 weeks. Each section lists those tasks. For example:

    Weeks 1
    Locate Emergency Button
    Can turn extrusion line on

    Week 2
    Can set up feeder

    At the end of each week, the operator must demonstrate the actions listed. If successful, they are "signed off" for that week.

    This process continues for 8 weeks and ends with the operator completely running the line by themselves.

    Its been really effective and my auditors love the process, so far :)
     
  11. Rajesh A

    Rajesh A Member

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    Good feedback everyone, thanks for the discussion.
     
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  12. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    Sounds like a simple approach, Nikki...which is good! There are times I find we make our systems so complicated.

    Question, though, you said "If successful, they are 'signed off' for that week." Soooo...what happens if they are not successful? If Week 3 didn't stick with the new employee, is the entire week repeated and the entire week re-evaluated OR are the non-successful components added to the learning objectives for Week 4?

    Is there a certain number of repeats allowed before the organization - or the hire - can say "This isn't going to work out?" Considering the baseball playoffs are on - GO JAYS! - is there a 'three strikes and you're out' type of rule? I'm thinking with regard to Week 8, especially. Can the orientation period be extended by a certain amount of time?