Benefits of Having Trained Operators
An Overview of the Benefits
Did you know a skilled operator can use 10% to 12% less fuel every single day? Plus, skilled operators have fewer accidents, have less equipment downtime and their machines require less maintenance. All of this leads to more money you can spend elsewhere. Over time, the cost savings associated with trained operators is significant. Training will also minimize your legal and financial risks.
Increase Productivity
A trained operator can reduce their cycle times by three to four seconds. While a few seconds may not seem like much, over time, it adds up, increasing your profit margin. If operators know how to use their equipment, they know how to get the most out of it. The result is moving, digging, loading and hauling faster, while improving accuracy. Suddenly, missing production goals and deadlines will become a thing of the past — and your company will be working more efficiently.
Minimize Jobsite Errors
Humans operate equipment, and so there’s always going to be room for human error. Eliminating it isn’t possible, but you can do the next best thing — minimize it. Even small errors made on site can lead to expensive rework. No one wants to spend an additional expense to fix what training could have prevented.
Maximize Equipment ROI
If you’ve invested in technology that is designed to improve performance — reduce fuel consumption, improve accuracy, boost efficiency, etc., then make sure you’re getting a return on your investment. When operators are trained, they understand not only how the equipment works but also how the technology can maximize performance. Therefore, you can be confident you’re getting your money’s worth, both in the technology and the training you provide.
Minimize Equipment Downtime
Trained operators are familiar with the equipment. They perform daily visual inspections and are more careful in operating the equipment. As a result of more cautious operation, less maintenance is required, and when maintenance is required, it’s caught early, ensuring optimum care and maximizing the life of the equipment.
Reduce Risk of Accidents
If your operators are educated on how to operate equipment, they’re going to run the equipment safely, decreasing the risk of accidents and injuries on site. You’ll have less employee downtime as a result of injuries, less tied up in insurance premiums and a healthier workforce. Operators will also be empowered to make safe decisions about equipment operation when they find themselves in different situations in the field.
Decrease Fuel Costs
A skilled operator can use 10-12% less fuel in a day than an unskilled one. That’s because a trained operator knows when it’s appropriate to run equipment on economy mode, full RPMs and idle. With every member of your team trained, the savings add up.
Risks Associated with
NOT Training Your Operators
If you’re having second thoughts about implementing a training program, let us assure you that the risks of not training has a higher potential for loss than the investment you will make in training costs.
If you have not provided operator training and an accident occurs and causes an injury or death, your company is likely to face a lawsuit. While the details of every accident and lawsuit differ, one thing remains the same: Your company assets are at risk if you’re found to be at fault. One of the first things you’ll be asked to document as a part of that lawsuit is the training that was provided for the operator. You’ll have to provide curriculum and show how the training was enforced. If you haven’t taken steps to ensure proper training, all your company assets are at risk of being lost. When you put it into perspective, the sacrifices involved in getting all your operators trained seem small.
6 Signs Your Equipment Operator Needs Training
When you hire a new operator, do you have a training process in place, or do you send them out into the field with another employee to learn the ropes? How do you handle training on new pieces of equipment? While a formal training process is ideal, you aren’t alone if you don’t have one in place.
You've Had a Few Close Calls
If you’ve experienced an accident on site that results in injury or death, you’re familiar with the extensive investigation that follows. Looking into the extent of training heavy equipment operators have is a key to that, and there’s a reason why — untrained operators are more likely to cause accidents.
One of the infamous “Fatal Four” leading causes of construction worker deaths is known as “struck by object” — this includes being struck by a piece of equipment and/or an object that is being moved by a piece of equipment. It’s no surprise the OSHA Training Institute explicitly cites operator training in its education materials as a way to protect workers from struck-by hazards.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid severe accidents up to this point but have witnessed or heard about some close calls on site, chances are your operators may need a refresher training. Don’t wait any longer. Over time, those close calls will turn into accidents — and in this case, untrained operators could be the difference between life and death.
Replacing Equipment Parts Sooner than Expected
If your employees aren’t using the equipment as efficiently and effectively as they could be, it will likely lead to our second sign: equipment is costing you more than you expected in the form of replacement parts and frequent maintenance. While a job site environment can have an impact, equipment that isn’t run properly often shows signs of wear and tear sooner as a result of the improper use. For example, tires and undercarriages are two expensive items that inappropriate use can significantly impact.
In addition to the physical condition of the equipment, untrained operators could be costing you money when it comes to two other important equipment maintenance factors — inspections and machine alerts. Equipment operators should be inspecting the equipment every day. If they haven’t been trained on that particular piece of equipment, how do they know what to inspect?
The same goes for alerts — as technology on equipment continues to advance, alerts are put into place to alert the operator when something isn’t working the way it should. Can you rely on an untrained operator to respond to and/or report those alerts? If something isn’t working right, it’s important to catch it before it turns into a more significant issue. Untrained operators may not be capable of doing that if they don’t know how to inspect the equipment and what the alerts mean.
Low Operator Moral
Operator moral can become low when they fel like they don’t really know what is expected, which then causes a decrease in employee retention. When your operators know you care about them and their level of training, it boosts morale.
Technology Not Making an Impact
To see a high return on investment for the technologies you’ve purchased, your operators need to be trained on how and when to properly use them. If they aren’t, you’ll end up having technology that’s never used or technology that isn’t used correctly. There are a variety of technologies available to prevent over and under-loading, reduce fuel consumption and improve accuracy, among other things.
If you’ve invested in technology but aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for, it may be an indication that the operators aren’t taking advantage of the technology the way they should. Investing in educating your employees in how and when to use the technology may be the key to your technology making more of an impact.
Failure to Meet Goals and Deadlines
If you’ve been scratching your head wondering why you’re failing to meet production goals and deadlines, you aren’t alone. It can be hard to pinpoint a cause when there are so many factors that can interrupt your work schedule — weather, suppliers, materials and untrained operators. If you’re missing goals and deadlines frequently, there’s a good chance unskilled operators are a significant part of the problem.
When equipment operators are trained and know how to get the most out of their equipment, they get work done quicker without sacrificing quality. If you have employees operating equipment they haven’t formally been trained on, chances are they aren’t maximizing the use of the equipment — meaning it isn’t being run as efficiently and effectively as it could be. You may not be able to control the weather, suppliers and materials, but you do have the ability to ensure your operators are adequately trained.
Fuel Costs Are High
A skilled operator can use 10-12% less fuel every single day than an untrained operator. That adds up fast. One of the keys to this lies in idle time. Some experts estimate idle time alone could account for 40-50% of total equipment running time. That translates to at least one gallon of wasted fuel every hour.
In addition to idle time, untrained operators may also run equipment at full RPMs when it’s not necessary, costing you even more fuel. If you consider fuel alone, the case is strong for investing in the upfront costs of training — those are nothing in comparison to the high cost of fuel that can result from untrained operators.
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Canyon Lake, Texas 78133
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(830) 507-5956
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Dana@Danasco.com