Northwest Aerospace News December | January Issue No. 12 | Page 36

W hen Carter started at the company, he went through traditional new employ- ee orientation, as he would with most companies. The differences in orientation at the Lighthouse start after the “normal HR and safety training,” said O’Hara. He noted that they take employees through machine training and expose the employ- ees to a variety of skills at the onset. The big difference however is through the mobility instructors — O’Hara said they are the “heavy lifting,” in that they take employees around the facility and get them comfortable with where everything is located. From there, they work with the employee on transportation issues on how to get to and from work. “Some employees travel for hours to get here,” said O’Hara. He said they travel by train, ferry and bus; some travel several hours before and after work. Carter said that now that he’s seasoned with the company, he offers peer support to other employees and can, “steer someone in the right direction.” He said that he has been trained on a lot of machines and can offer advice, although his primary job is to set up the CNC machine for production. 36 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS