Education & Training
Education & Training National Pipeline Training Program Meeting the demands of the industry Tier-4 Diesel Course Helps IUOE Mechanics Stay One Step Ahead DIESEL MECHANICS PLAY a valuable role in our craft. To maintain the highest quality of training for our mechanics, the IUOE National Training Fund (NTF) hosted a Tier-4 Diesel Train-the-Trainer course last fall. The week long class was held at Local 150’s training facility in Wilmington, Illinois. The course provided valuable information and resources for each of the local union instructors that attended. [L to R] Front Row: Dennis Manown - Local 66, Manuel Gutierrez - Local 18, Jimmy Granville - Local 324, Steve Columbus - Local 66 Training Administrator, Chris Treml – IUOE Construction Training Director, Mike Gavlock – IUOE Pipeline Training Director, Richard Rose – Local 12, Brian Camechis – Local 18, Cody Mecum – McLaughlin Manufacturing, Gregg Muddy – McLaughlin Manufacturing Back Row: Jay Turner – Local 12, Tim Radwanski – Local 18, Sam Griffiths – Local 542, Jeff Legan – Local 12, Dave Bowers – Local 150, Mark Spencer – Local 18, Ken Powell – Local 178, Dave Stefanko – Local 18, Richard Coulas – Local 793 Not only did they train on the new Tier-4 diesel systems, there was also an electronics troubleshooting component for these systems added to the class. This is just another way the NTF is working to keep our membership among the most highly trained workers in the industry. IUOE local union instructors that attended the course were: Peter Stieglitz (L825), Thomas Lewicki (L825), Chris Szpila (L825), Dan Keis (L49), Steve Tuhy (L49), Don Shelton (L181), James David Smith (L181), Brent Johnson (L139), Matthew Wehrmann (L139), Gary Mashburn (L926), Garry Edmondson (L9).The course instructors from IUOE Local 150 were Brian Roland, Mark Otto, and Dean Black. THE LOCAL 66 training site in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania recently hosted the IUOE/PLCA National Pipeline Training Program, along with the IUOE National Training Fund, for a train-the-trainer seminar on the new hydro-vac machine that the National Pipeline Training Fund (NPTF) had recently purchased. IUOE instructors from the United States and Canada attended this three day seminar. Operating Engineers attending the seminar were introduced to the latest hydro-vac technology by Vermeer. In the gas and oil industry today, safety is the number one priority among municipalities and pipeline operators. In order to achieve the level of safety that the industry is striving for, strict requirements have been mandated. Today, contractors must use the hydro-excavation process to locate and, in some cases completely, excavate the existing utility. By using the hydroexcavation process, the danger of a line strike by mechanical excavation equipment is eliminated. The implementation of these requirements has created a shortage of skilled hydrovac operators. Acknowledging that there is a need for more skilled hydro-vac operators, the NPTF recently developed a hydrovac training course to train IUOE members. In addition to the hydro-vac training, the NPTF offers 11 other courses which consist of Intermediate Sideboom, Intermediate Excavator, Intermediate Angle Dozer, Horizontal Directional Drilling, Ozzie Pipeline Padder, Advanced Excavator for the maintenance and rehabilitation work, John Henry Rock Drilling, Pipeline Winching, Bending Engineer, Deckhand Pipelifter, and Vacuworx Pipelifter. With 17 instructors, 45 pieces of equipment, 178 classes and over 150,000 available hours of training every year, the NPTF is dedicated to training IUOE members to be the safest operators in the oil and gas industry. The NPTF encourages all members to visit IUOE.org for more information about the program. 6 INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER WINTER 2016 7
