Walter Clough

The story of Walter Clough is not a rare one for many students that attended one of NAHETS member schools. Walter graduated from the Oklahoma College of Construction and is working for APAC in Missouri making 35/hr. He is an operator, but also doing site plans and other duties. This isn’t Walter’s first HEO job since graduation, but it’s his first full time job. 35.00/hr is very impressive for anyone, however for Walter it’s…. well…you gotta know Walter. I asked him his secret to landing this job (Apac was one of his job leads in his original packet) almost a month ago. He walked onto the jobsite, filled out an application and was hired on the spot!!! That’s it! We always encourage our graduates to not be afraid to walk on a job site and speak with a foreman/site supervisor. These guys usually know what their immediate needs are before the corporate office does. Anyway, Walter has been encouraged to do this for quite some time….he finally did it and it’s finally paying off. Congratulations to Walter!

18 Year Old Crashes Backhoe Into Police Car

Redding police say an 18 year old male from Redding, CA, Trevor Traphagan, allegedly stole a backhoe construction tractor and drove it erratically down Oasis Road near Lake Boulevard around 10:20 p.m. Police officers tried to stop the giant machine, but Traphagan ignored all of their attempts. The officers then placed spikes on the road in front of the tractor, which were once again ignored and just driven over. One police officer reported that Trevor ignored all police lights and sirens.

Traphagan then turned onto Santa Rosa Drive and drove the backhoe into a parked police car while the officer was laying down the spike strips, police said. After tuning onto Dara Court, a dead-end street, he stopped the backhoe struggled against the officers but was eventually taken into custody, polices said.

Traphagan was booked into the Shasta County Jail for suspicion of driving under the influence, resisting arrest, evading a police officer, reckless driving, assault on a police officer and stealing a motor vehicle. Unfortunately all of these charges could have been avoided if Traphagan had enrolled to become a certified heavy equipment operator through one of NAHETS member schools. Instead of driving backhoes into police cars, he would be driving them into the future.

John Deer Smackdown: Hill Climb

John Deer goes at it with other companies such as CAT, New Holland, and Bobcat to find out who’s the best.

NAHETS Visits Ukraine

Last October, NAHETS Executive Director, Mike Martens was invited, by Ukrainian businessman Igor Kotovoy, to Kyiv (Kiev), the capital city of Ukraine, to meet with representatives from a cross section of Ukrainian construction materials and road construction companies.  In addition he also was offered the opportunity to present the NAHETS OPCAT (OPerator Certification Assessment Test) program to Ukrainian government officials.

As a result of that invitation Mike flew to Kyiv, the capitol of Ukraine, on October 25 and was met by Mr. Kotovoy.  After a quick auto and foot tour of Kyiv, (photos 1 & 2) Mike and Igor met with Mr. Karl-Heinz Kasch, Technical Director – Dyckerhoff Ukraine, for a discussion of the state of operator training in their Ukrainian and Russian quarry operations.  Mr. Kasch was interested in having Mike visit the Dykerhoff cement operations in Mykolayiv during his visit to Ukraine.

For the final event on Saturday Mike, Igor and Igor’s fiancé Katya took in the Swan Lake Ballet at the Ukraine State Opera House.

Monday began early with a drive to Mykolayiv and a visit to the Dyckerhoff Cement- South Operation.  After meeting with Vladimir Vegerinskiy, General Director, Mike and Igor were given an extensive tour of the quarry operations (photo 3) accompanied by Dimitry Artamonov, Head of Technical Services.  Much of the discussion during the tour focused on safety concerns, equipment operational costs and operational efficiencies required to maintain the 1 million ton-per-year production requirement.  Mr. Artamonov mentioned that they would be taking delivery of three Caterpillar 385 hydraulic shovels and would need to train the sixteen operators needed to man the three shift mining process.

Approximately 200 km south of Kyiv is the city of Uman.  Just outside of Uman the Ukrainian government is adding an eight km stretch of the newly emerging Ukrainian national freeway system.  This stretch of roadway is being built by Umanavtodor, a large Ukrainian contractor managed by Ruslan Guba, who is second from the right in photo 4.

When asked about availability of equipment operators, Mr. Guba explained that, due to a lack of vocational training schools, Umanavtodor has an internal training activity but would appreciate a source of well-trained entry-level operators that can then be oriented to the procedures and equipment unique to Umanavtodor.

Igor, and Mr. Guba also discussed the possibility of establishing a contractor’s group organized along the lines of the U.S. AGC or ABC.

Wednesday was the culmination of the Ukrainian trip as Mike and Igor met with Ms. Larysa Losiuk, Head of the State Committee of Ukraine for Technical Regulation and Consumer Policy.  Ms. Losiuk, who reports directly to Ukrainian President Victor Yushenko, and her staff were interested in discussing the details of NAHETS’ Operator Certification Assessment Test (OPCAT) as it might be utilized in Ukraine.  In addition to examination of OPCAT, Ms. Losiuk and her staff asked for an overview of the NAHETS Yellow Metal Boot Camp (YMBC) training program as Ukraine does not have, at the present time, an adult vocational training program for heavy equipment operators.  This was of particular interest as Ukraine is investing heavily in upgrading several thousand kilometers of it’s highway system country-wide and, in particular, a ring road complex around the capital city of Kyiv.  At the end of the session Mike presented Ms. Losiuk, and her staff, with a Yellow Metal Boot Camp training guide and an iPod loaded with the YMBC skidsteer video training series. (Photo 5)

The meeting concluded with a request that NAHETS return to Ukraine with the objective of discussing, in more detail, the possibility of assisting the government with a heavy equipment operator vocational training program and with helping to advise the government with developing a Ukranian system of construction equipment operator certification.

NAHETS in ‘Mining Magazine’

The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) appeared in the September edition of Mining Magazine. The article focuses on the use of various training simulators in the mining and heavy equipment industries; e.g., computer-based training, visualization, and advanced equipment simulators. These simulators improve safety and operating skills by successfully representing the characteristics and behaviors of various equipment types.  Vista Training, Inc. and its cooperative, Simlog, are leading providers of the various simulators. All of the NAHETS campuses use simulators as part of their heavy equipment training programs. You can view the article in Mining Magazine…(pp.94-97).

New Crane Operator Regulations in the Works

For the first time since 1971 the federal government is updating crane regulations. Triggered by various lethal crane accidents around the country this past year, the U.S. Department of Labor is set to release drafts of the new regulations, which focus mainly on crane operator standards.

New Standards

The new regulations will require crane operators to pass both written and practical tests in all 50 states and complete more training. Currently only 15 states and 6 cities require tests. Crane operators will have various options to become certified/qualified under the new rules:

• Certification through accredited third-party testing organizations
• Qualification through audited employer testing programs
• U.S. military-issued qualification
• Qualification by state/local licensing authorities

In addition to the certification and training of crane operators the new rules also hone in on inspecting ground conditions, crane assembly and disassembly, operating near power lines, and the use of safety devices and crane inspections.

It is expected that the final approval of all of the regulations will “likely take more than a year.”

Sources:

(1) Devlin, Barrett. The Associated Press. September 18, 2008.

NAHETS Crane Operator Training & Certification

Member schools of the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) across the country offer mobile crane operator training and certification programs. Each of the member schools are authorized to administer the NCCCO Mobile Crane Certification tests. They also offer training from instructors, all holding NCCCO Mobile Crane Operator Certifications, to prepare for the tests. Visit the NAHETS Crane Site for more information.

NAHETS Visits Estonia for 2nd Time to Assist Heavy Equipment Training Program

May 2008–NAHETS Director of Operations, Mike Martens, has made his second trip to Estonia to advise and assist the Ministry of Education with its project to improve the heavy equipment operator training program at the Paide Vocational Secondary School (PKK). The Paide school is beginning a phase in which the Estonian government will commit $30 million (USD) towards expansion and modernization of curriculum and facilities.

In addition to this project, Ministry Counselor Erkki Pissang has begun an initiative to establish the Paide school as a heavy equipment operator training center for the Baltic countries. Students would come from not only Estonia but also the countries of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. NAHETS is assisting with this regional training center initiative.

Rein Oslein, Director of the Paide Vocational Secondary School, is also working with various governmental agencies to upgrade Estonia’s operator certification standards based on NAHETS operator certification standards.

Mike’s time in Estonia was divided into meetings with Rein at the Paide school, at which time the framework for the regional training center was developed, and they began to define the heavy equipment operator certification standards.

Rein and Mike also met with the Head of the Estonian Vocational and Adult Education Department, Andres Pung, and with Siim Raie, The Executive Director of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce. Siim is working with Rein to develop contacts within the Estonian construction industry.

Those meetings were held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Tallinn is a city with a history dating back to the 12^th century; Old Town Tallin is the best-preserved example of a medieval Hanseatic League city

The next event is a Baltic Regional Conference, to be hosted by the Estonian Government, at which the education and industry attendees will work towards participation in the Estonian Heavy Equipment Operator Training Center in Paide.

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Associated Builders & Contractors Annual Construction Education Conference

The Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. (ABC) held their annual Construction Education Conference this last May 7th through May 9th in Las Vegas, NV.

For the second year NAHETS was represented at this event, which concentrated on specific training and education topics for construction owners, managers, and professionals. Additionally the nation-wide network of ABC chapters engaged in workshops and discussions focusing on the need to better educate America’s construction workforce.

As an element of this discussion NAHETS Mike Martens was able to present to the conference attendees the benefits of hiring the graduates from the five NAHETS schools located in California, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Georgia. The conference participants were pleased to discover that NAHETS graduates are not only trained in the actual equipment operations but are also required to adhere to strict safety requirements and recognize the importance of teamwork and work ethics.

NAHETS has also been asked to consider joining the official ABC training team, specifically to assist with providing training material to the local ABC chapters. NAHETS Executive Director Matt Klabacka has given his approval to continue this discussion hoping to come to a formal agreement with ABC later this year.

The 2009 ABC Construction Education Conference will be held next February 25 – March 1 and NAHETS will be there.

Heavy Equipment Operation Now a Specialized Education

NAHETS came in contact with Robin Salisian at Construction Crossing in November 2007. Resulting from this contact came the article from NAHETS Executive Director, Matt Klabacka, “Non-Traditional Education For Today’s Web 2.0 Consumer.”

After a successful initial contact, in February 2008 NAHETS came in contact with Construction Crossing once again. In talking with Robin Salisian at Construction Crossing and Mary Waldron at Education Crossing, we were able to write another article, “Heavy Equipment Operation Now a Specialized Education.” This article focuses on the specialization of NAHETS heavy equipment and crane operator education . . .

Today, education exists largely because one thing–specialization. Every educational institution has programs and degrees focusing on certain areas of expertise; this specialized education allows individuals to excel in fields of their choice, thus helping society as a whole.

Until recently, the process of training heavy equipment operators lacked the degree of specialization found in other career specific training . . . see article

New Corporate Website–NAHETS.org–Unveiled

The National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) launched its new corporate website–www.NAHETS.org–on February 28, 2008. Unique from the existing NAHETS sites, NAHETS.org is an information-based site that focuses solely on sharing relevant company information and industry news with an expanded audience–partners, industry companies and associations, and employers.

What is the purpose NAHETS.org?

Already with a universal site (www.NAHETS.com), a leading job placement site (www.yellowmetalusa.com), and program and curriculum-based sites (www.heavy-equipment-school.com & www.yellowmetalbootcamp.com), NAHETS discerned the need for a website that was filtered to the business relationships of the heavy equipment industry. NAHETS.org is unique because its primary purpose is to communicate to industry companies, partners, and employers, instead of primarily towards students as other NAHETS sites.

Central to NAHETS.org is that it avoids the heavy traffic from students while maintaining a credible reputation for the industry. Although the NAHETS.com site is a more “all-inclusive” site, its heavy focus on students can detract from the experience of those not looking to attend the schools; i.e., partners, employers, and industry associations. NAHETS.org maintains enough design and information to be useful to students, but mostly meets the demands of non-student visitors by focusing on relevant content for NAHETS and the heavy equipment and construction industries.

Where did it come from? Who was involved? How long did it take?

The concept of “employers vs. students,” or in other words, the idea of website communication to the business relations of NAHETS, in addition to students, has been a goal of Executive Director, Matt Klabacka, since he founded NAHETS in 2005. After various evolutions of the main NAHETS.com site, Klabacka realized that one site, by itself, was not enough to create the desired student and business relationships. After discussing the matter with NAHETS personnel, Klabacka launched the NAHETS.org undertaking.

With ideas coming from Klabacka and other personnel, including Mike Martens (Director of Operations), Rhett Nielson (Creative Director), and Brian Thornton (Technology and Marketing Director), Klabacka turned the creation of the site over to Mike Wille, Internet Manager. Wille spent months designing and testing the site before its February 2008 take off.

What are its features?

Wille created the site using a modern design scheme, making it compatible with the appearance of related industry sites. NAHETS.org also incorporates the latest in website technology:

• Cold Fusion to power the website with the most current information and news from a database
• Video Streaming in the “Schools” and “Videos” sections
• RSS Feed from the company and video blogs to the “News” section of the website

Just the beginning

This release of NAHETS.org is just the beginning. The site is designed to continually grow with updated company and industry information and news. We invite everyone to come back and visit the site frequently, as well as pass the word along to family, friends, employers, etc.