Utilities and utility contractors put a high priority on safety. However, labor shortages often corner field supervisors into making a judgement call on whether an equipment operator is ready for the task. If foreman A believes an operator is ready after several weeks of training, and foreman B believes they still need several months, who is right? Training directors can support their field supervisors by objectively preparing operators to be ready for dangerous or complex work.
When time is of the essence, especially during storm response to return power to customers, field supervisors need to have confidence in the skill set of their crew. The worst time to find out that an operator isn’t ready is when they’re on the jobsite with live equipment and people around. Without the ability to objectively assess operator readiness or adequately train them for high-risk scenarios, gaps in training might only become obvious in hindsight after a safety incident.
In a perfect world, training programs would quickly get classrooms of operators to full proficiency. They would easily identify operator weaknesses and provide the targeted practice needed to address them. They would even allow digger derrick, crane, or earthmoving equipment operators to practice the most dangerous scenarios they could encounter, including rare events such as equipment faults that require split-second decisions to avoid an accident. Any assessments of operator abilities would be objective, data-driven, and fair. In an ideal world, training programs would be available 24/7 and cost nothing to fuel and maintain equipment.
Some of these goals may sound far-fetched. It might seem like this perfect world isn’t possible. With the right technology, though, this perfect world could be reality.
Read the full article discussing the many benefits of simulation technology offers, including its ability to reduce the likelihood or safety incidents for free on Incident Prevention’s magazine, Volume 21, Issue 5, October-November 2024.
