Factory worker, lad favouring active involvement (5-2)
I believe the answer is:
hands-on
'involvement' is the definition.
(I have seen 'personal involvement' mean 'hands on' so perhaps 'involvement' could also mean 'hands on')
'factory worker lad favouring active' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'worker' could be 'hand' (hand is a kind of worker) and 'hand' is located in the answer.
'lad' could be 'son' (lad can informally mean a young boy) and 'son' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hands-on that I've seen before include "Practical (training)" , "Giving personal attention (to)" , "Involving practical participation rather than theory" , "Transmits" , "Practical, working something directly - or manually" .)