| Mobile plant training and competence |
WBB Minerals has established a dedicated mobile plant training team. All members had achieved or were working towards their NVQ A1 assessor qualification. Each has also gained EPIC competency certificates on a number of items of mobile plant.
As part of the EPIC Instructional Techniques course, the instructors had to produce individual training breakdowns. Since then, they have amalgamated the individual breakdowns to create one company training breakdown for each vehicle, as well as one company training plan which covers all vehicles.
As well as introducing new standards for training, initial training now takes place in designated training areas, away from the pressures of production. Until the instructor is confident the trainee has demonstrated an acceptable level of control and knowledge of the vehicle, he will remain in the training area. Once this level has been achieved, training can continue in the production environment under supervision until the trainee reaches the required standard. At all times, the instructor is in contact with the trainee using voice-activated two-way radios.
In Devon, it’s been possible to establish a dedicated training area. Using standard traffic cones, basic and advanced steering exercises can be carried out by the trainee to gain confidence in general (and more precise) vehicle manoeuvring. These exercises are laid out to represent actual areas on site. One area is a bay made of four cones 3m wide by 7.5m long – this represents the distance between the steel legs holding up a powder silo.
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