Field reference
Shift handover notes: what to record and how
A handover note should be short enough to read in a couple of minutes and specific enough that the next shift can act on it without finding you. Write it before you leave, hand it over in person if you can, and keep it where the next shift and the supervisors can find it. Every sample entry below uses made-up numbers.
The sections
| Section | What to write | Sample entry |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | Incidents, near misses, hazards, and anything locked out | Press 4 locked out for a hydraulic hose swap. Lock and tag on the main disconnect. Do not start. |
| Production | Counts against plan, the order in progress, where it stands | Order 1182: 1,400 of 2,000 made, 1,375 good. Running at about 30 seconds a part. |
| Quality | Holds, rejects, deviations, checks that are due | Lot 7 held at final inspection for burrs. Tagged and in the red cage. |
| Equipment | Stops with duration and reason, anything running oddly, work orders opened | Two jams at the infeed, about 6 minutes each. Sensor cleaned. Work order opened for the infeed guide. |
| Materials | What is staged and what is short | Resin lot B is half a pallet. Next delivery is due Thursday. |
| People | Who is out, who is training, tasks that need a qualified person | Night operator out. A trainee covers the second press under supervision. |
| Next shift | Actions in order, with who does them | 1. Restart press 4 once maintenance signs off the hose. 2. Finish order 1182. 3. Change over to order 1190 by 14:00. |
A whole note, start to finish
This one is for a day shift on a small molding and assembly line, with made-up numbers.
- Safety: no incidents. Press 4 is locked out for a hose swap, so do not start it.
- Production: order 1182 is at 1,400 of 2,000, with 1,375 good. Assembly is waiting on the remaining housings.
- Quality: lot 7 is on hold for burrs, in the red cage.
- Equipment: two infeed jams on press 2, about 6 minutes each. Work order opened for the infeed guide.
- Materials: resin lot B is half a pallet. Delivery is due Thursday.
- People: night operator out, trainee on the second press.
- Next shift: restart press 4 after maintenance sign-off, finish order 1182, change over to order 1190 by 14:00.
It takes a couple of minutes to write, and the person reading it can start work without asking anything.
Rules for writing the note
- Use numbers. A count, a duration or a lot number is worth more than “a few” or “some”.
- Say what you did and what is still open.
- Name the machine and where it is.
- Write “none” in a section when there is nothing to report, so the reader knows you checked.
- Say who has to act on each open item.
- Put anything that can hurt someone first, and do not bury it.
Format
- Keep it to one page, with the sections in the same order every day, so readers learn where to look.
- Paper on a clipboard or a shared screen both work, as long as every shift uses the same one.
- Back the note with a short face-to-face at the machine. The conversation catches what the page leaves out, and the page keeps the conversation honest.
- Date and time every note, and name the shift.
Reviewing the notes
Once a week, a supervisor should read a week of notes in one sitting. Repeated entries are the point. The same jam at the same infeed points to a maintenance item. The same shortage points to purchasing. The same quality hold points to an inspection step that comes too late. Send each repeat to whoever can fix it, and tell the shifts what happened, since notes that lead nowhere stop being written. The preventive maintenance checklist and the OEE guide both feed on this kind of record.
Where handover notes fail
- The note says “ran fine” and nothing more.
- Each shift keeps its own format, so the next shift has to translate.
- The key fact lives only in someone’s head.
- Nobody reads the note, because nothing ever changes as a result.