June 2009: Feature Story

Cue the Training Montage
Getting Your Operators in Tip-Top Excavator Shape
By Jason Morgan

A look of determination comes across the face of your operator in-training.

Cut to classroom equipment and safety instruction — diligently taking notes with an understanding nod. Pull back from a bead of sweat running down your operator’s face as he tries to dig on grade. Walking the jobsite to learn the lay of the work. Doing the daily maintenance checks on machines. Reading the excavator’s owner’s manual during breakfast, lunch and dinner. His grade work is now perfect and placing pipe — no problem. The job’s done perfectly with no setbacks or injuries. A thumb’s up from the foreman as your operator walks into the sunset, fist raised.

Unfortunately, it’s going to take longer than two minutes for a new operator to learn the ropes — no matter how loud you blast the Rocky theme song over the jobsite loud speaker. It takes time and hard work to learn the nuances of an excavator and get to know the crew and operations of a utility jobsite. Unless an employee has years of operation experience, chances are they aren’t going to get their hands on the excavator’s digging sticks.

“Typically what happens is that someone is hired as an unskilled or general laborer. But they show some mechanical ability that people recognize and they want to learn how to operate a machine,” says Greg Strudwick, Certified NUCA Safety Instructor and President of Greg Strudwick and Associates, which provides safety consulting to utility contractors. “It’s like little boys wanting to play with the Tonka toys. They start bugging the operators during lunch hours or other downtime to run the machines. The operators let them be their swampers [a laborer who assists the operator].

They start to learn about operation by being around the machine and watching other operators.”

Your excavator operator is one of the major factors that dictate your project’s profitability. Is he on grade? Is he using the right bucket to make sure he’s getting the most productivity out of every cycle? Is he digging to keep his crew and the buried utilities safe? All of these questions add to your project’s bottom line.

In the pantheon of equipment operation, the excavator is typically third in line. The road to operation starts with smaller equipment such as a vibratory roller. From there, the operator will step up to a loader, like a wheel loader or skid steer. Loaders are often paired with excavators in dig and load options, which only strengthens the excavator’s siren song. If dozer operation isn’t next, the operator typically takes control of the excavator.

“Ultimately in a utility crew, the next step up from excavator operator is the foreman,” says Strudwick. “A lot of times he moves into a managerial position because he basically knows how to run that jobsite. He’s sitting in a seat where he’s watching the other operations all at one time. Most of your site foremans and superintendents came from the seat of an excavator.”

The excitement from the aroma of recently pierced earth is quickly overcome by first day jitters. The new recruit has been assigned to one of your most trusted supervisor and his skills are put to the test installing new utility lines for a subdivision. His grade is decent, but his hands are shaky — he’s nervous and a little rusty. Your foreman cautiously walks over and motions to him to turn the machine off before critiquing his work.

Utility construction excavator operators depend on their co-workers in the trenches to guide their steady boom. In a case where he’s digging around a utility and can’t see it, the responsibility shifts to the guy on the ground who is giving the operator signals for where to dig. The operator is designated to do only what that man or woman tells him to do.

Most contractors know that operator training typically happens on the job. When work needs to be done, producing results is the operator’s goal. There are usually two types of operators you encounter — those with no experience and those with some. Your trusted foreman will known within two to three hours of the new recruit being on the jobsite if he’s an experienced operator.

“You can’t grow all your operators because the turn-over rate might be too high,” Strudwick explains. “What you do is blend. You have your senior operators that you know are going to be moving on at some point and some operators you already know are going to be transients. They’ll work for you for two years and then they’re gone. And then they come back two years later.”

Whether you have a green operator-to-be or a rusty seasoned vet, there are several ways to whip them into shape outside of jobsite experience. Technology drives the latest in operator training. For classroom work, there are online options such as John Deere University (jdu.deere.com). Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week operators can hop online and complete training modules that focus on safety, how to operate the machine and how to conduct daily service checks.

“The operator training courses are highly interactive with numerous simulations to virtually practice with the machine controls and how to maximize productivity with those controls,” says Jonathan Goodney, Manager of Learning Technology for John Deere. “All courses are available in English with many also offered in Spanish and French. And a training coordinator at the customer’s facility can track test scores and manage the records of all learners.”

There are also programs that are in-depth how-to’s that go from basic info to the nitty-gritty specifics. For example, the National Utility Contractor Association’s (NUCA) Foundation for Education and Research’s Pipelayer Series is a five-part pipe installation course scripted by contractor volunteers on NUCA’s Education Committee. The first two parts that focus on Jobsite Layout and Excavations, Trenching, Manholes and Backfilling are now available, with the other three chapters — Working with Pipe; Surveys and Grades; and Testing and Chlorination — still in production. The computer-based training DVD gives employers the opportunity to train on days when field conditions put a halt to production or during any down time.

If your recruits have more trouble operating a computer than an excavator, training DVDs and videos are available from the likes of John Deere, NUCA and Vista Training Inc., a company based in Waterford, Wisc., that provide training solutions for people involved in earthmoving, excavating and mining applications.

“These are great videos to watch before you ever get on a machine,” Goodney says. “On our newer products, the DVD videos also come equipped with an iPod size version of the video, as well as a PowerPoint version that will fit nicely into a presentation if you are developing a training program. The iPod version is nice to download and take up into the cab with you as you learn the controls, especially if you’re trying to train someone who speaks a different language.”

Training Simulators, like this Caterpillar system, are designed to train and orient an entry-level operator on basic machine operation, skills and application knowledge. Experienced operators can also benefit from simulator training by honing skills to increase production levels.

It’s like something out of a pulp sci-fi story — people trained in virtual world where even the most reckless operation results in a mere Game Over screen instead of jobsite casualties. But that training technology is starting to come into its own, and no you don’t have to wear a futuristic silver uniform.

Both John Deere and Caterpillar have unveiled the latest leap in training — virtual simulation of a jobsite, complete with a full set of excavator controls. These hydraulic excavator simulators allow new operators to cut their teeth in a safe environment, learning difficult maneuvers repeatedly until they have fully mastered and ready for the jobsite.

“Simulation training can decrease operator anxiety in a controlled environment allowing students to learn specific safe operating procedures and how to avoid bad habits,” says Larry Estep II, Equipment Training Solutions Manager for Caterpillar. “With Caterpillar simulation training an instructor can train multiple operators at one time. HR and recruiting organizations can use simulation products to screen new operator hires, track operator training performance through built–in testing and address ergonomic issues.”

If you’ve ever picked up your kid’s Xbox controller and “let him win” in Halo, you’ll be happy to know that on the simulators you have the upper-hand, thanks to the true-to-life excavator controls. The software is typically run on Windows-compatible computers and comes with all the hardware you’d need — the frame and controls, not the computer or monitor. Install the software, put an office chair in the frame of the controls, connect your computer to a screen and you’ve created a virtual jobsite in your office.

“These simulators concentrate on learning the hand/eye coordination of doing several tasks safely in a virtual jobsite,” says Goodney. “Since you learn operator technique, not just machine specific information, it may help you train on other manufacturer’s excavators as well. You can also switch between backhoe- and excavator-style controls. The strong message with [simulator] technology is that you are not burning fuel while you learn operator technique and you won’t hurt anyone or damage equipment in real life.”

Caterpillar offers five simulators — motor grader, medium off-highway truck, mining truck and large wheel loader simulators, in addition to the hydraulic excavator simulators. And if you need a comfy chair or just want one in the office, Cat is offering an optional suspension seat to give that in-cab feel. Check out www.catsimulators.com for more info. Deere currently offers an excavator simulator, but has other products on the way for this summer. You’ll find more info at Johndeere.com/virtualtraining.

Putting a new operator on a site without any existing utilities is a safe arena to test his or her abilities. It’s also a good idea for returning operators. People get rusty and putting them in a safe digging environment lets them work the kinks out.

If you aren’t into techno-training, there’s the most interactive of all systems — instructor-led operator training. Offered across the board from manufacturers like Cat, John Deere and Komatsu (to name a few) to associations like NUCA, instructor-led training lets operators develop the confidence necessary to demonstrate correct planning and operation techniques for customized machine applications.

“Normally, we recommend that you get a group together — 10 or more — and we’ll train on a Friday or Saturday,” says Strudwick. “You’ll get to work your four-day week with production and then you can have that one day. At that point, many operators are looking for advanced training. You can go over different aspects of the excavator. Bucket size for example — it has a huge affect on production when you use the correct bucket. It determines how much money you spend on your embedment process and backfilling and other things of that nature.”

“Competent Person training is probably the most important advanced training,” adds Ryan Schmitt, President of Petticoat-Schmitt Civil Contractors Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based contractor. “It is important for the operator to know how to excavate a safe trench.”

When you’re creating your operator training program, it can be difficult to price your best options. Training DVDs can range from $100 to $3,000-plus, depending on if they are interactive, computer-based programs or simple DVDs you watch, but you can use the program for multiple employees. Advanced instructor-led training’s ballpark cost is around $150 to $1,000 per person. And the new virtual simulators are anywhere from $7,000 to $18,000, depending the machine family and options, but can give you an idea of your operator’s profitability. For example, John Deere has a scoring system based on your productivity that projects a budget for a sample job.

“If you perform better than this baseline, you will land more dollars for your jobsite,” says Goodney. “This creates a friendly competition at the jobsite to get the highest dollar amount. As seasoned operators go through, they will be reminded of safety things to watch out for in a jobsite as they go through the tasks.”

“It’s hard to say how much you’d need to spend training an individual,” admits Strudwick. “We do it this way — any kind of training is about $20 an hour. The reason I say that is that we charge about $160 for excavation safety and Competent Person training. If you figure that’s an eight-hour course, that’s where we get our $20 from. Any kind of training that we’ve ever provided — whether it’s CPR and first aid or excavator safety — that magic number keeps coming up.”

Though you can’t speed up time with quick cuts to get your guys operating perfectly before you’re done with your morning coffee, you will start to see their progress. There’s no downside to implementing an operator training system — your operators will become lean, mean, productivity-producing machines. They’ll go the distance to make sure the job is done correctly and safely.

Jason Morgan is Associate Editor of Utility Contractor.