Effective Shift Handover

How to transfer 8 hours of knowledge
in 10 minutes

❌ The Bad Handover

Outgoing tech:
"Hey, pretty quiet night. Pump 3 was making noise but seems okay now. Oh, and someone from production wanted something, can't remember what. Anyway, gotta run!"

No structure. No documentation. No time allocated.
Critical information lost.

The Four-Part Structure

1
🚨 Safety First
Any injuries? Near misses?
New hazards to know about?
2
✅ Work Completed
What did you finish?
What can be closed out?
3
🔄 Work In Progress
What's started but not done?
What's the next step?
4
👀 Heads Up
What's coming?
Scheduled PMs, expected issues?

✅ The Good Handover

"Morning. Safety first - no incidents, wet floor near Tank 2, signs up.

Completed: Fixed conveyor alignment Line 4, replaced sensors on packaging.

In progress: Pump 3 bearing noise since 2 AM. Vibration elevated but not critical. Ordered parts, scheduled for tomorrow. Keep an ear on it.

Heads up: Line 2 extended shift today - prioritize issues there."

90 seconds. Complete situational awareness.

Tools That Help

📓
Paper Log
📋
Whiteboard
💻
Shared Doc
🔧
CMMS Notes

The tool matters less than the habit.
Pick one. Stick with it. Make it routine.

Good Handovers =
Good Teamwork

Download our free shift handover template

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