Hiring production workers: how to staff a factory floor that keeps running

Typically the ones that suffer are plants that treat every opening as "general labor." A production floor is not a stockroom with louder music. It moves at the speed of the line, around machines with moving parts, sometimes in heat, sometimes in cold, on around-the-clock shifts. Staffing it takes more forethought than a "workers wanted" sign.

What makes factory hiring different?

• The line sets the pace

  One slow station slows down what comes behind it. A steady pace is more important than speed.

• Machines and moving parts

  Guards, lockout tags and protective equipment aren't optional, starting from minute one.

• Shifts around the clock

  Lots of plants operate evenings, nights and weekends. Make sure new people know what shift they'll be working before they accept the offer.

• Heat and cold

  Some floors can be hot in July and freezing in January. Mention that in the job description.

• Procedures that matter

  Work instructions, quality checks and sanitation steps are followed exactly, not approximately.

• A team, not a solo job

  People hand work to each other all shift. One no-show changes everyone's day.

Here's how the Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the assembly side of this career: Most assemblers and fabricators work in manufacturing plants. The work can require standing for long periods of time. Some workers have shifts that include evenings, weekends, and nights. Assemblers and fabricators typically receive several months of training on the job, which is why keeping a trained person is worth far more than replacing one.

Which roles should you plan for on a production floor?

Six steps for hiring production workers who stay

1. 1

   Write the job by station

   Job-related tasks, equipment needed, PPE required, and the pace and shift of the station they will be working.

2. 2

   Describe it honestly

   Hours standing per shift, temperature, lifting involved, noise level. Informed people stay longer.

3. 3

   Screen for reliability and process

   Attendance record and ability to do things step by step are better indicators of future success than overall experience.

4. 4

   Match the shift

   You're not going to have a good employee very long if the shift doesn't work for them.

5. 5

   Prepare before day one

   Safety orientation, gear and a named trainer all set before the new person walks in.

6. 6

   Check in early

   Check in when day one is done, and again at the end of week one. Fix what you hear.

What safety training is due before the first shift?

OSHA couldn't be clearer about machines: moving machine parts can cause severe injuries, and any machine part, function or process that has the potential to cause injury must be safeguarded. Its lockout/tagout standard requires employers to train workers about controlling hazardous energy, and anyone who works where lockout/tagout procedures are used must be trained on them, including the rule about not restarting equipment that has been locked or tagged out.

If a new person is hired through an agency, both employers split the job. According to OSHA: Host employers must treat temporary workers as they would any other workers with respect to training, as well as safety and health protections. Although the staffing agency typically provides general safety training, host employers should provide temporary workers with training regarding the specific equipment they will be using and hazards they may encounter. OSHA and NIOSH explain using an actual incident: A temporary worker cleaning equipment at a food manufacturing plant was killed when he contacted rotating machinery. Permanent maintenance employees of the plant had received training on procedures for protecting workers from exposure to energized equipment during maintenance or cleaning; the cleaning crew supplied by the agency had not.

How do you staff for swings in volume?

Factory volume doesn't usually plateau. New contracts, seasonal spikes, overtime weeks and a string of absences can all alter your headcount requirements. Having a stable core crew, as well as a staffing partner who is already familiar with your floor, lets you add trained workers without starting from scratch. Temp-to-hire allows you to turn the best of them into permanent staff.

The companies that handle swings best expect them. They know ahead of time what stations will require trained individuals and what stations can accept an untrained person if matched with the right trainer. They have a short list of workers they are happy to call back. They brief their agency on a new contract the day it is signed, not the day they receive the first order.

Factory hiring questions

How RHO Hiring staffs Michigan production floors

RHO Hiring helps place entry-level production workers, machine operators and specialized handling staff in factories and manufacturing facilities throughout Michigan, including steel and metal fabrication plants. We study your workflow, shifts and production volume before assigning workers. All of our employees are prescreened for reliability and attention to detail, and are trained in safety protocols before beginning work. You'll also have access to a dedicated management team who monitor your account. We are locally owned and operated, not a franchise. As owners, we stay directly involved with our customers. Need workers for an automotive plant? Read our guide to automotive manufacturing staffing.