“SEAA is great resource of education, safety and steel industry trends."
ARTICLE
Technical Training a High Priority for SEAA By Tom Underhill, Executive Director More than 200 professionals and 90 exhibitor representatives attended the 2015 National Convention and Tradeshow in Myrtle Beach, S.C., representing a 42% increase over the 2014 attendance. New this year was craft training and certification opportunities, including NCCER Certified Signal Person, Boom Lift Operator Training provided by United Rentals, and Ironworker Assessment delivered by Tim Eldridge. The issue of recruiting, training, and retaining a qualified workforce is not just a concern for steel erectors. It remains a hot button issue in the U.S. and around the world in construction, manufacturing, and other hands-on industries. And it’s an issue that also has the attention of Hollywood and the mainstream media. Recently, a New York newspaper, the Utica Observer-Dispatch, ran a letter from Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame and current host of CNN’s “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.” The article was an open letter from Rowe, who is a big supporter of craft workers and trade industry jobs, to a critic of his position on work ethic. “We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work,” said Rowe. “I focus on individuals who are eager to do whatever it takes to get started. People willing to retool, retrain, and relocate,” he said. Rowe’s popularity has spawned interest from other show biz types. In June, SEAA was contacted by a casting director looking for companies who are willing to be filmed for a reality TV show depicting a craft worker from entry level through to seasoned professional. While the construction industry needs positive attention in order to draw new people to it, in my opinion, the flaw with the show’s concept is that training and learning is not limited to a short, designated time frame. There’s a beginning. But there really never is an end. It’s a lifetime of learning and applying what you’ve learned that makes an individual safe, proficient, and productive. As an early campaigner for improving skilled craft labor in this country, Rowe gets a lot of media attention. But it’s up to organizations like SEAA to do the hard work of providing the training opportunities necessary to build that skilled workforce. Tailor-Made Ironworker Training That’s SEAA’s goal, especially in the development of the SEAA/NCCER Ironworker Craft Training Program and our USDOL-approved Ironworker Apprenticeship Program. If you haven’t bought in yet, here are four more reasons to consider it. Included in the custom training materials are ALL Core Modules; ALL NCCER Ironworker Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Rigger Modules; Signal Person Modules; plus our own custom SEAA curriculum. SEAA will issue a “Qualified” Signal Person/Rigger card upon successful completion and submission of specified modules. SEAA will administer Ironworker and other NCCER Assessments at your company or on your job site. SEAA offers one-on-one consultation to help you develop and implement your SEAA-sponsored Ironworker Craft Training Program. This flexible program can help you determine knowledge and skill level of current and potential employees, provide a training prescriptions to fill any “gaps,” and be an incentive for employees to acquire industry recognized credentials. What People Are Saying A handful of you participated in the training and assessments offered at this year’s Convention. Stephanie Trainor with Construction Insurance Agency was one that joined the United Rentals boom lift operator class. Even though she does not work in the field, she subscribes to the importance of lifelong learning. “I participated because I insure these machines for many of our customers, and I thought it was important for me to understand how they operate,” she said. “The class gave me an appreciation for what the field guys have to work with. Not all machines are alike or have all the bells and whistles like the one United Rentals provided,” she said. As a trainer himself, Scott Day of SafeDay, Inc., an occupational safety consulting firm, participated in the signal person instruction. “From a training perspective, I like to participate in classes to learn teaching techniques, to learn best practices, and to stay current on the latest information,” said Day. “The NCCER Signal Person course is more comprehensive than most people realize. It covers OSHA regs as it relates to signaling, hand and voice signaling procedures, basic information on crane operation and load handling, as well as practical evaluation,” he said. Day reports that pre-exam preparation is important to improving certification pass rates. In his experience, less than 50 percent of individuals in a class will successfully pass an exam without taking preparatory training. That number rises to closer to 75% with training. “But the real test is six months or a year from now when you need to apply the information you learned on the job site,” he said. “Once you know better, then you have to practice so that doing better becomes a habit.” Among the comments SEAA received following Convention was a request for more field and management level technical programs. To comply, we need your suggestions for specific topics you’d like to learn more about. Maybe its best practices for hand and eye protection or AISC 360 Chapter N. Email me at executivedirector@seaa.net or give me a call to discuss it. We can’t move this project forward without your input.
Technical Training a High Priority for SEAA
This flexible program can help you determine knowledge and skill level of current and potential employees, provide a training prescriptions to fill any “gaps,” and be an incentive for employees to acquire industry recognized credentials. What People Are Saying A handful of you participated in the training and assessments offered at this year’s Convention. Stephanie Trainor with Construction Insurance Agency was one that joined the United Rentals boom lift operator class. Even though she does not work in the field, she subscribes to the importance of lifelong learning. “I participated because I insure these machines for many of our customers, and I thought it was important for me to understand how they operate,” she said. “The class gave me an appreciation for what the field guys have to work with. Not all machines are alike or have all the bells and whistles like the one United Rentals provided,” she said. As a trainer himself, Scott Day of SafeDay, Inc., an occupational safety consulting firm, participated in the signal person instruction. “From a training perspective, I like to participate in classes to learn teaching techniques, to learn best practices, and to stay current on the latest information,” said Day. “The NCCER Signal Person course is more comprehensive than most people realize. It covers OSHA regs as it relates to signaling, hand and voice signaling procedures, basic information on crane operation and load handling, as well as practical evaluation,” he said. Day reports that pre-exam preparation is important to improving certification pass rates. In his experience, less than 50 percent of individuals in a class will successfully pass an exam without taking preparatory training. That number rises to closer to 75% with training. “But the real test is six months or a year from now when you need to apply the information you learned on the job site,” he said. “Once you know better, then you have to practice so that doing better becomes a habit.” Among the comments SEAA received following Convention was a request for more field and management level technical programs. To comply, we need your suggestions for specific topics you’d like to learn more about. Maybe its best practices for hand and eye protection or AISC 360 Chapter N. Email me at
executivedirector@seaa.net or give me a call to discuss it. We can’t move this project forward without your input.