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New-Hire FOD Orientation Packet

Plain-language foreign object debris training for new employees: the FOD rules from day one, what signs and floor markings mean, and what to do if you find FOD or lose an item.
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9

Pages

9

Sections

10

Day-One FOD Rules

5

Find-FOD Response Steps

New-Hire FOD Orientation Packet cover

About the New-Hire FOD Orientation Packet

Reviewed by Trent Powell, Founder, FODBag · Reviewed: November 10, 2026

Quick answer: In aviation, aerospace and defense work, a single washer, pen cap or rag in the wrong place can damage an aircraft, an engine or a delivered product. This orientation packet is FOD training for new hires: in plain language, it explains the FOD rules they follow from the first day, what the signs and floor markings mean, how to handle tools and personal items, and what to do if they find FOD or lose an item.

Who it is for: New employees in aviation, aerospace and defense work, and the HR and onboarding teams, supervisors and trainers who welcome them. Employers add their own area levels, colors, contacts and procedures.

Important: This guide is an educational resource. It does not reproduce, replace, or claim to contain the requirements of AS9146, NAS 412, FAA guidance, or any customer, contractual, or regulatory requirement. Organizations should obtain the authorized current editions of applicable standards and follow their approved procedures, maintenance data, and engineering instructions. Employers: this packet is a template for onboarding. Add your own area levels, colors, contacts and procedures in the spaces provided, and keep the signed acknowledgement with each employee’s training record.
Aviation personnel applying FOD tape and signage, illustrating effective prevention strategies in aviation

What’s Inside the Guide

Nine sections, from what FOD is to a signed acknowledgement form.

What FOD Is

Foreign object debris and foreign object damage explained with everyday examples, such as a washer near an open access panel or drill chips left on a part.

Your Day-One FOD Rules

Ten rules, from clean as you go and look before you leave to stop and report, and ask when unsure.

Area Levels, Signs and Floor Markings

What FOD awareness, FOD control and FOD critical areas mean and what you do in each.

Personal Item, Tool and Hardware Rules

Clear do and do-not examples for pens, phones, badges, jewelry, hats, tools and hardware.

If You Find FOD or Lose an Item

Stop, Secure, Remove, Report and Record, and what to do immediately if you lose an item.

First-Week Checklist and Acknowledgement

A first-week FOD checklist and a signed acknowledgement form for the training record.

Key Practices From the Guide

A short preview of what the guide covers in depth.

Clean as you go
Collect debris while you work, not only at the end of the shift, and look before you leave your work spot.
Account for every tool
Tools come out of the kit and go back in. Report anything missing right away.
Take only the hardware you need
Keep it in a closed container or FOD bag. Before you enter a controlled area and when you leave it, check your pockets, your badge and your PPE.
Follow the signs and floor markings
They tell you which rules apply where you are standing. In FOD critical areas, enter only if trained or escorted and sign the log.
Stop and report
If you find FOD in product or lose an item, stop and tell your supervisor immediately. Reporting quickly makes the search smaller and faster.
Ask when unsure
There is no penalty for asking. There can be a big cost for guessing.

How to Use This Guide

  • Use Sections 1 and 2 on the first day to explain FOD and the ten day-one rules.
  • Use Sections 3 to 5 to walk through area levels, signs, floor markings, personal items and tool rules.
  • Use Section 6 to practice what to do if you find FOD or lose an item.
  • Use the first-week checklist and acknowledgement form in Sections 7 and 8 for the training record.

Before You Start

  1. Add your own area levels, colors and rules to the packet.
  2. Add supervisor and quality contacts.
  3. Walk the new hire to the nearest FOD area entry and signs.
  4. Show where FOD containers and FOD bags are kept.
  5. Set who completes the first-week checklist with the new hire.
  6. Keep the signed acknowledgement with the employee’s training record.

Forms in the Toolkit

  • Ten Day-One FOD Rules (Section 2)
  • First-Week FOD Checklist (Section 7)
  • Acknowledgement Form (Section 8)
  • Personal Item Do and Do-Not Table (Section 4)

By FODBag.com · Updated November 10, 2026

Reviewed by Trent Powell, Founder, FODBag · Reviewed: November 10, 2026

New Hire FOD Orientation Playbook: Ninety Minutes That Set the Habit

Quick answer: New hires should learn what FOD is, the basic rules, the area levels where they will work, how to control personal items and tools, and what to do when something is lost. Record the training before they enter controlled areas. IAQG guidance expects trained personnel or escorts for anyone entering designated areas.

This playbook gives employers a 90-minute orientation plan for new hires. It uses IAQG guidance in support of AS9146 on training and personnel access and the NASA MSFC training and records sections as a reference model, with a checked schedule example. The module times are an example and the plan is a FODBag suggestion. Add your own area levels, colors, contacts and procedures.

Read this first. AS9146 and NAS 412 are paid aerospace standards. This page does not reproduce them and does not cite them by clause number. IAQG SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D (June 19, 2023) is public guidance in support of AS9146. Use the current authorized edition of whatever standard your contract names; your approved procedures decide the controls.

What the opened sources say

IAQG guidance in support of AS9146 expects organizations to identify training requirements, establish training methods, set recurring training criteria and intervals, and evaluate effectiveness (IAQG SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D, slide 23), and to ensure anyone entering FOD prevention designated areas has received required training or is escorted by trained personnel, including visitors and contractors (IAQG SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D, slide 24). Personal items such as keys, phones, pens and jewelry are named for control (IAQG SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D, slide 29). NASA MSFC-STD-3598 Rev. D sets training levels with refresher intervals and requires training records (NASA MSFC-STD-3598 Rev. D, 5.11.1 to 5.11.5).

Orientation modules

  1. What FOD is and why it matters, with plain examples.
  2. The basic rules: clean as you go, look before you leave, stop and report, ask when unsure.
  3. Area levels and what changes when you enter each.
  4. Personal items and tools: what stays out and how tools are counted.
  5. Stop, secure, report and record if you lose something.

First week

Pair the new hire with a trained buddy, walk the work area together, and review the first week checklist at the end of the week. Use a short sign-off for the training record.

Records and refreshers

Keep the date, trainer, content version and a signed acknowledgement. Set a refresher interval that fits your risk and customer requirements.

Worked example: a 90-minute orientation schedule

This example is illustrative. Module times for a session:

Module Time
What FOD is and why it matters 20 min
Ten rules and clean as you go 15 min
Areas and what changes in each 25 min
Personal items and tools 15 min
Stop, secure, report and record 15 min
Total 20 + 15 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 90 min

Check: 20 + 15 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 90 minutes. A plant hiring 12 people in a month runs two sessions of six, so the trainer needs 2 × 90 = 180 minutes, or 3 hours, plus time to sign records.

What good looks like

  • Training is done before entry to controlled areas.
  • Content covers rules, areas, personal items, tools and reporting.
  • A buddy covers the first week.
  • Records show date, trainer and version.
  • Refreshers are scheduled.

Matching FODBag products and resources

Orientation materials: FOD field posters; FOD signs; FOD stickers; FOD tool bags; FOD bags.

About FODBag. FODBag.com, a Powell Pack Products company in Mesa, Arizona, has made FOD bags, FOD tape, FOD stickers, FOD signs, FOD posters, FOD cans and FOD containers since 2016. FOD tape is 2 in × 108 ft and FOD signs start at $29.99. Questions? Call 602-874-1313, Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Arizona time.

Sources opened for this page

  1. IAQG SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D, FOD Prevention Program: Guidance in Support of IAQG Standard 9146 (June 19, 2023) — Slides 23, 24 and 29 on training, personnel access and personal items. Opened and read for this page on November 10, 2026.
  2. NASA MSFC-STD-3598 Rev. D, Standard for Foreign Object Damage/Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Prevention (effective July 26, 2021) — Sections 5.11.1 to 5.11.5 on training. Opened and read for this page on November 10, 2026.

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  • 9-page orientation packet (PDF)
  • Ten day-one FOD rules
  • Area levels, signs, personal item and tool rules
  • First-week checklist and acknowledgement form

Free for internal organizational use. Educational resource from FODBag.com, a Powell Pack Products company. Questions? Call 602-874-1313.

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Related Reading

Go deeper on the topics in the New-Hire FOD Orientation Packet.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should new-hire FOD training cover?

What FOD is, the day-one FOD rules, area levels, signs and floor markings, personal item and tool rules, and what to do if you find FOD or lose an item, with a signed acknowledgement.

What are the day-one FOD rules?

Clean as you go, look before you leave, account for every tool, take only the hardware you need, control personal items, protect openings, follow the signs and floor markings, use FOD containers, stop and report, and ask when unsure.

What should you do if you find foreign object debris?

Stop, secure the object so it cannot fall further in, remove it if it is loose and safe to pick up, report it to your supervisor or lead, and record what it was, where and when.

What is foreign object damage training for?

To show new employees that a single washer, pen cap or rag in the wrong place can damage an aircraft, an engine or a delivered product, and that preventing FOD is part of everyone's job.

What do FOD area levels mean?

Many facilities use three levels: FOD awareness for support areas, FOD control where aircraft, engines or products are worked, and FOD critical where open systems make a lost item hard to find.

What should FOD orientation for new hires cover?

As a FODBag suggestion: what FOD is, basic rules, area levels, personal items and tools, and what to do when something is lost. IAQG guidance expects training and recurring criteria to be established (SCMH 3.4.2 Rev. D, slide 23).

Who may enter a FOD controlled area?

IAQG guidance expects anyone entering designated areas to have required FOD training or be escorted by trained personnel, including visitors and contractors (slide 24).

Should FOD training be recorded?

NASA MSFC-STD-3598 Rev. D requires training records (section 5.11.5). NASA material is a reference model, and your customers may add requirements.