Say you run a plumbing shop in the northeast. It is October, the furnace and boiler calls are starting to stack up, and you finally hire the labourer you have been looking for since August. On day one he rides along with your busiest journeyperson, who has no time to explain anything. By week three he still does not know which van carries the press tool, he has never seen your hazard assessment form, and he is quietly looking at other job postings. Training new hires in the trades does not need an HR department. It needs a plan that someone can actually follow on a Monday morning.
This guide lays out a 90-day plan for a new labourer or apprentice at a small contractor: plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, HVAC, framing. Adjust the details to your trade, but keep the structure.
Why most trades onboarding falls apart
It usually is not a lack of goodwill. It is that training lives in one person's head. When that person is slammed, training stops. The common failure points:
- No written plan. The new hire learns whatever happens to come up that week.
- Safety as a one-time talk. A quick chat on day one, then nothing when they move to a new site or pick up a new tool.
- No sign-offs. Nobody can say for sure whether the new hire has been shown the chop saw, the lift or the ladder rules.
- No check-ins. Problems surface when the person quits, not at day 30 when they could have been fixed.
The Alberta safety basics you build around
Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety rules put real duties on employers, and they line up nicely with a good training plan. In plain terms:
- Workers must be adequately trained to work safely, before they start a work activity, before a new activity, new equipment or new process, and when they move to another area or work site.
- Hazard assessments must be written and dated, and the affected workers must be involved.
- Workers must be made aware of their rights and responsibilities. In Alberta that includes the three rights: the right to know, the right to participate and the right to refuse dangerous work.
- Supervisors must be competent and familiar with the OHS legislation. Your lead hand is part of your training system, not just a busy person who happens to be nearby.
- Workers must take part in the training you provide.
Government guidance also recommends keeping records of orientation and training: the date and what was covered. If there is ever an incident, those records are your evidence that you did the work.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm the details on the official Alberta OHS obligations of work site parties page or contact Alberta OHS.
For the first-day safety content itself, see our guide to new worker safety orientation in Alberta.
A 90-day plan for training new hires in trades
The plan has four stages. Each one ends with something you can check off, so nobody has to guess whether the new hire is ready for more.
Before day one
- Paperwork signed and returned: offer, tax forms, emergency contact.
- PPE sized and ordered: boots, gloves, glasses, hi-vis, hearing protection, and winter gear if they start in November.
- A buddy assigned. Pick a patient journeyperson or senior labourer, not just whoever has an empty seat in the truck.
- The first week's schedule sent by text, including where to show up and what time.
Week 1: safe, shown, and not overwhelmed
- Safety orientation at the shop before any site work: rights, hazards, emergency plan, reporting.
- Walk through the site hazard assessment with the crew. Have the new hire sign and date it with everyone else.
- Truck or van walkthrough: where everything lives, what gets restocked, what gets checked each morning.
- Hand tools only, under direct supervision. Power tools come after the sign-off.
- End of week: a 10-minute sit-down with the owner or foreman. Two questions: what was confusing, and what do you need?
Weeks 2 to 4: tools and routines
- Work through the tool sign-off checklist (below), one or two tools at a time.
- Learn the daily routines: morning truck check, site setup, cleanup, end-of-day photo or notes.
- Watch the short videos for each new task before doing it, then do it with the buddy watching.
- Day 30 checkpoint: review the sign-off sheet, give honest feedback and set the goals for the next month.
Days 31 to 60: real work with a safety net
- Takes on defined tasks alone, with the buddy checking at set points rather than watching every step.
- Moves to a second site or job type. Remember: a new site means new site-specific training and a new hazard assessment.
- Starts doing the morning truck check without being asked.
- Day 60 checkpoint: what can they do on their own now, and what still needs a second set of eyes?
Days 61 to 90: trusted crew member
- Handles routine jobs or tasks start to finish, and knows when to stop and ask.
- Helps orient the next new hire on the basics. Teaching is the best test of learning.
- Day 90 checkpoint: confirm the role, talk about the path ahead, and decide on any further training.
If it is not written down and signed off, you only hope they were trained.
The tool sign-off checklist
A sign-off is simple: the supervisor shows the tool, the new hire uses it under supervision, and both initial and date it. Keep one row per tool or task.
| Tool or task | Shown by | Supervised use | Signed off (date) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ladders and setup | Foreman | Two jobs | Initials and date |
| Cordless drill and impact driver | Buddy | One day | Initials and date |
| Chop saw or reciprocating saw | Foreman | Three uses | Initials and date |
| Trade-specific tool (press tool, bender, nailer, trencher) | Journeyperson | Until confident | Initials and date |
| Fall protection (roofing, elevated work) | Competent supervisor | Before any work at height | Initials and date |
| Site cleanup and waste | Buddy | First week | Initials and date |
Any ticket or certificate the role needs, such as fall protection or first aid, goes on a separate list with expiry dates. Our guide on tracking safety tickets and certifications covers that part.
The truck and van checklist
New hires waste hours hunting for things. A laminated checklist in each vehicle (or a QR code that opens it on their phone) fixes that:
- Daily walkaround: tires, lights, fluids, damage.
- Required safety gear on board: first aid kit, fire extinguisher, spill kit.
- Stock levels for common fittings, fasteners or parts, with a restock step.
- Where each tool lives, ideally with a photo of the shelf or bin.
- Winter kit from October on: shovel, ice melt, booster cables, spare gloves.
Short videos on their phones
Your best journeyperson can explain how to set up a trench box or flash a roof vent in two minutes. Film it once on a phone. Name it clearly, put it in one shared library, and send the link before the new hire does the task for the first time. A good video does not replace hands-on supervision, but it means the supervised attempt goes better and your journeyperson repeats themself less.
Keep each video to one task, under three minutes, with no music and no editing beyond trimming. Landscaping crews can film the spring setup in April, roofers can film tear-off and cleanup during a quiet stretch, and the library grows every season.
This week, ask each senior crew member to film one task they explain over and over. Five videos is a training library. Fifty is a real asset you own.
Keep the records without a binder
The plan above produces a handful of records per hire: orientation date and topics, signed hazard assessments, tool sign-offs, ticket expiry dates and checkpoint notes. A shared folder per employee works when you have a few people. Once you have several crews and sites, a simple form on a phone that saves to one place beats a binder in the shop that nobody updates from site. See paper binders vs. digital SOPs for the trade-offs.
Where Sidekick fits
We build onboarding and training systems for Calgary contractors: paperwork signed online, a day-one schedule sent automatically, short SOP lessons with videos and quick quizzes, tool and ticket sign-offs tracked per employee with reminders before anything expires, and the 30-day check-in booked on its own. See what that looks like in our training and onboarding work, or book a free call and we will map out your 90 days.
Frequently asked questions
How long should training take for a new construction labourer?
Plan for at least 90 days of structured training, with safety orientation before any work starts and checkpoints at 30, 60 and 90 days. Training also restarts whenever the worker picks up new equipment or moves to a new site.
What safety training does an Alberta employer have to give new workers?
Alberta OHS requires that workers be adequately trained to work safely before starting a work activity, before new activities or equipment, and when moved to a new site. Workers must also be made aware of their rights and responsibilities, so confirm the specifics on the official Alberta OHS pages.
What is a tool sign-off?
A tool sign-off is a short record showing that a supervisor demonstrated a tool, watched the new hire use it safely, and both initialled and dated the record. It tells everyone which tools the person is cleared to use.
Do training videos replace hands-on training in the trades?
No. Short videos prepare the new hire before a task and serve as a refresher afterward, but the first attempts should still happen under supervision by someone competent.
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