Simulators—by their very nature—are well-positioned to help construction firms and vocational schools overcome the training challenges brought on by COVID-19. Workers involved in essential construction like public infrastructure, housing and health care cannot do their jobs from home, and training must continue to ensure that employees have the right qualifications to execute in a safe and productive manner.
While the pandemic has slowed down the industry, maintaining training during tough times is one way to ensure future growth. According to S&P Global, a $2.1 trillion boost of public infrastructure spending over a 10-year period could create 2.3 million jobs by 2024, creating even greater competition for talent.
An increase in projects and new workers means more incidents, but there are also a higher number of risk factors due to inexperience. There is precedent for this issue. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the United States experienced a construction boom that also led to a 26% increase in fatalities among workers.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recently highlighted the need for training amid the pandemic, stating: “New distractions created by the pandemic and the disruption of normal safety training activities are contributing to an increase in electrical contact incidents among [electric transmission and distribution] operations personnel.” Electric Cooperative safety officials speculate the uptick in accidents may be due to changes in work processes and increased temptations to adapt standard operating procedures.
Traditionally, training has been done in large groups, both in the classroom and on-site. Reduced classroom and crew sizes, staggered crew schedules, on-site sanitation, physical distancing and designated travel paths are among the most common ways training is being impacted in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Shifting to Online, Virtual & Simulated Instruction
A portion of equipment operator training is theoretical—knowing industry standards, using load charts, learning pre-operation inspections, etc. During the last 6 months, many providers have shifted curriculum traditionally delivered in the classroom to webinar-format training. However, there is a certain amount of equipment operation that requires hands-on learning. This is where simulation training fills a gap. As part of a comprehensive training plan, simulation training is a cost-effective and sustainable way for operators to practice real-world scenarios and develop the operational muscle memory to transfer skills to the jobsite.
Next Gen Equipment Training in Colorado offers a variety of equipment training options for hydraulic excavators, wheel and backhoe loaders, dozers and other earthmoving machines. The company provides classroom and field instruction but is increasingly emphasizing simulation-based training.
“When COVID-19 struck, we had to take a 4-week program and convert it to an online delivery. You can imagine that transition. It’s a huge undertaking,” said Terri Olson, owner. “The equipment portion was the most difficult, so we offered up a simulation training to conduct once a month as a part of that training program.”
“Simulation is shown to be as much as 70% faster at less than half the cost of traditional training. But the real proof is in its effectiveness. Studies show that training based on simulators can boost productivity by up to 40%. And that’s more than significant,” she said.
According to Crane Industry Services (CIS), a training provider in Georgia, its proactive customers are adapting. Work crews for an investor-owned utility in the Southeast were previously organized in 20-person units. These units intersected with other crews as the job required. “Now the company has established seven-person crews that do not interact with each other. Each crew works and trains together to reduce contact with other employees,” said Debbie Dickinson, chief executive officer of CIS. If a crew with a different skill set is needed, the first departs before the latter arrives.
In addition, this has forced formal assessment and recognition of individual crew knowledge, skills and abilities so the right people are assigned to the task at hand. “From a training perspective, CIS has found that our trainers can accomplish more with these crews because they have developed a cohesive team dynamic.
Less time is lost to establishing individual skills and strengths because of the ability to conduct knowledge benchmarking using simulators and because the crew members are already familiar with each other,” Dickinson said.
Abiding by Coronavirus Pandemic Protocols
Simulators provide sanitary and distanced training while facilitating hands-on experience. Operators can train on any simulator and easily wipe down and disinfect the machine before and after every use. Multiple students can be placed on simulators that are physically distanced or separated by plexiglass, while portable solutions enable remote training from any location.
Today, equipment simulators come in a variety of hardware packages, some of which are desktop solutions that are lightweight and portable. In contrast, on-the-job training forces both the instructor and the student into a confined cab where they are breathing the same air, speaking loudly over noisy machinery, and touching the same surfaces.
Remote instruction is also possible with some simulation systems. To meet physical distancing requirements, CM Labs simulators can be paired with an optional instructor operating station (IOS). This remote workstation can be set up within the classroom or a separate room and allows instructors to control the training right from their seat.
The IOS empowers instructors with a real-time 3D view of the virtual jobsite and allows them to initiate exercises, inject faults and manipulate weather conditions. The IOS also tracks and benchmarks trainee progress and allows instructors to add bookmarks and notes to the training session that can be addressed with each student.
The Future of Productive & Effective Training
Now more than ever, optimizing crew capabilities when they are working on staggered schedules is critical. One of the biggest challenges for an owner or field manager is to quickly assess the qualifications of a new hire. Subsequently, Next Gen Equipment Training reports it has seen a surge in operator screening requests. In addition, benchmarking with simulation training is a productive way to upskill or reskill workers for specific tasks when companies are juggling their crews.
The ability to establish evaluation metrics, record scores, and then make objective comparisons is something that only simulation training can do. Whether it is simply control familiarization or progressively more complex operations, scoring parameters establish objective evaluation, enabling supervisors to get people with the right skills on the right job.
