Competency-Based, Customized Operator Training Systems

North Pacific Operator training systems are designed and built to Canadian industrial requirements, which are among the highest in the world. We develop high quality, effective, competency-based training systems customized to the needs and objectives of equipment manufacturers and mine operators.

Competency-based training is designed to achieve predetermined, measurable and observable performance standards. It enables:

The trainee to demonstrate he/she has the knowledge, understanding and skills required to perform a job.
The trainer to objectively assess the ability of the learner to perform job tasks.

As a result, everyone—trainer, trainee, training coordinator, foreman and superintendent—knows exactly which skills the trainee has obtained upon completion of the training.

Our training systems ensure that your operators are able to:

Reduce liability. Mine management can prove workers have been well-trained to avoid injury or environmental mishap.
Ensure safety. Safety procedures are clear and operators know how to apply them.
Maximize efficiency. Knowledgeable operators know how to do the job, not just run the equipment.
Minimize equipment damage and repair costs. Operators know how to inspect and use equipment, and work with maintenance to avoid costly, unnecessary repairs.

Our courses are built using the DACUM approach to occupational analysis (acronym for Developing a Curriculum). We use operator input to identify the specifics of how a job is performed and then organize the information into key job responsibilities and associated tasks. The DACUM becomes our checklist for ensuring the course materials are complete and accurately meet the job requirements.

Additional benefits of the DACUM approach:

Ensures systematic identification of critical tasks
Results in accurate job descriptions
Provides a legally defensible basis for performance and competency tests
Enables meaningful certification based on competence
Meets ISO 9000 and TQM standards.

When the course materials are ready, courses can be delivered at the customer’s site using our trainers or yours. Our train-the-trainer package enables your trainers to use the course materials to achieve consistent, predictable results.

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No Hassle, Defensible Training

If you tell someone how to do a job, is it safe to assume they’ve gained the knowledge and skills required to do it safely and effectively? What’s the risk of finding out they can’t? Efficiency? Safety? Reduced profit? Environmental damage? Jail?

In Canada, where we are based, training is a very serious issue for mine operators. Mine managers, CEO’s and even Board members can be held criminally liable for injuries or environmental hazards caused by untrained workers.

If an accident occurs and operator error is determined to be a contributing cause, the quality of training will be investigated. You must be able to prove your training system delivers measurable, reliable results. Even if the defensibility of training is not an issue in your country, using a training system that meets Canadian requirements ensures that your training is very high quality.

We work with mine operators and equipment manufacturers who want to reduce their risk of equipment damage, downtime and accidents, but don't have the expertise or resources in-house to develop competency-based operator training. Our clients have traditionally conducted their training in a casual or unstructured manner, but are now seeking a more structured and defensible operator training system.

Instructional design and training is our core business. You can benefit from our systems and experience without incurring the ongoing expense of building and supervising your own instructional design and training team.

As a mine equipment manufacturer, a competency-based training system gives you a competitive edge, plus the assurance your customers have been trained to predetermined performance standards. However, you may not have the expertise or resources in-house to build, maintain or deliver competency-based customer training. We offer you “no hassle” training.

Our trainers can go to your factory and become factory-certified on your equipment. Once certified, they can even handle warranty claim investigations, freeing up your personnel to meet other demands. If you already have knowledgeable trainers, they can use our training system to deliver predictable, impressive results.

Offer your customers first-class, competency-based training using the people and systems we already have in place.

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Mobile Equipment or Plant Operator Training System

Our Mobile Equipment and Plant Operator Training Systems are comprised of the following components.

	DACUM Analysis Instructional designers interview experienced workers and summarize job tasks into profile charts. These charts become the foundation for training content and competency assessment.
	Training Manual Our Training Manual builds on your operation and maintenance manuals. It includes: Photos of your equipment in your operating environment Background theory required to create workers who can think independently on the job Step-by-step instructions required to complete job tasks identified in the DACUM Integration of your standard operating procedures into task instructions Practical recommendations from experienced professionals on working in varied terrain.
	Knowledge Quiz A written test ensures the learner has grasped key concepts and theory presented by the instructor.
	Trainer Guide The Trainer Guide provides a map for course delivery, ensuring consistency in content and teaching methods from one instructor to the next. It facilitates optimal learning by incorporating varied instructional techniques and a checklist of expected performance standards by topic.
	Field Assessment This tool provides a checklist of job tasks the trainee must perform in order to demonstrate that he or she has achieved predetermined measurable, observable standards of competence. Once completed, everyone knows the person can perform to the standards listed.
	Quick Reference Guide The Quick Reference Guide contains the essence of the key operating procedures; the critical information required by the operator on the job.
	Optional items: PowerPoint Presentations Simulator Program

Train-the-Trainer Package

You could invest in the best training system in the industry, but your efforts are wasted if your trainers don’t follow it. If your trainers don’t following your training system, it undermines the system’s defensibility, weakens the delivery, and casts doubt on the competence of the trainees once their training is finished.

Our train-the-trainer program teaches your trainers the value and the techniques of following the training system, even though the system may be different from what they have done in the past. Our trainers ensure your trainers are able to use the course materials, teaching methodologies, trainer guide and assessment tools to achieve the same predictable results.

The train-the-trainer package ensures you get maximum value from the materials we produce. It enables master job performers to train junior performers and achieve the same measurable, predictable results as professional trainers. Invest in the development of a defensible, competency-based system in year one, then enjoy the pay-off in year two, year three, year four...

When you choose our Train-the-Trainer program, an experienced instructor arrives at your site with the course materials in hand. Those course materials include a lesson plan to ensure consistent delivery of the train-the-train course and predictable results. The course runs three, four or five days, depending on the requirements and experience of the trainers being trained. It includes classroom skills but focuses heavily on one-on-one coaching skills.

We go light on theory, heavy on practice. Theory is important as an underpinning, but we give the trainers only what they need to understand the logic behind the training system we have developed for them. We stress practice and constant feedback throughout the course.

This course works best with five to seven participants.

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Veteran Mine Operators as Trainers

North Pacific’s strategic partner in mine operator training is RW Consulting and Training Services Ltd. (RW CTS) in Sparwood, British Columbia.

RW CTS employs operator instructors who have 30 or more years each of mine production experience. They are experienced in all facets of open pit mining, including blasting, mechanical and electric drive haul trucks, electric and hydraulic shovels, excavators, graders, loaders, drills and more. They also perform production analyses and safety analyses.

Click here to visit their website and learn more about the company.

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