In addition to minimizing your legal and financial risks, there are several benefits to training your equipment operators. While the coordination of operator training may seem like lost time and money, you can be confident in the fact that your time and money will be returned through the following perks post training.
A trained operator can reduce their cycle times by three to four seconds. While a few seconds may not seem like much, over time, it adds up, increasing your profit margin. If operators know how to use their equipment, they know how to get the most out of it. The result is moving, digging, loading and hauling faster, while improving accuracy. Suddenly, missing production goals and deadlines will become a thing of the past — and your company will be working more efficiently.
Trained operators are familiar with the equipment. They perform daily visual inspections and are more careful in operating the equipment. As a result of more cautious operation, less maintenance is required, and when maintenance is required, it's caught early, ensuring optimum care and maximizing the life of the equipment.
If your operators are educated on how to operate equipment, they're going to run the equipment safely, decreasing the risk of accidents and injuries on site. You'll have less employee downtime as a result of injuries, less tied up in insurance premiums and a healthier workforce. Operators will also be empowered to make safe decisions about equipment operation when they find themselves in different situations in the field.
Humans operate equipment, and so there's always going to be room for human error. Eliminating it isn't possible, but you can do the next best thing — minimize it. Even small errors made on site can lead to expensive rework. No one wants to spend an additional expense to fix what training could have prevented.
Remember, a skilled operator can use 10-12% less fuel in a day than an unskilled one. That's because a trained operator knows when it's appropriate to run equipment on economy mode, full RPMs and idle. With every member of your team trained, the savings add up.
If you've invested in technology that is designed to improve performance — reduce fuel consumption, improve accuracy, boost efficiency, etc., then make sure you're getting a return on your investment. When operators are trained, they understand not only how the equipment works but also how the technology can maximize performance. Therefore, you can be confident you're getting your money's worth, both in the technology and the training you provide.
Fewer accidents, less equipment downtime, less equipment maintenance — all lead to more money. Over time, the costs associated with trained operators are significant.