OTTAWA – The launch of computer-based training for pipeline construction workers will improve worker mobility and safety, say industry leaders.
The Construction Sector Council’s Pipeline Construction Safety Training Course has generated widespread interest from pipeline owners, employers, contractors and labour groups because it uses leading-edge technology to meet interprovincial safety standards.
“This on-line, pan-Canadian safety training program will provide a valuable tool to enable workers and contractors to ensure that best practices and safety knowledge remain an integral part of pipeline construction industry practice,” says Ted Shipka, President and CEO of Pe Ben Industries Company Ltd., one of 80 pipeline construction industry representatives who attended a course preview in Calgary last week.
“Training new workers, on a national basis, will also provide a valuable tool to increase worker mobility, which will serve the interests of all industry stakeholders while contributing to the safe completion of projects,” he adds. “This type of training goes a long way to addressing those issues.”
Dermot Cain, the Canadian Director of the International Union of Operating Engineers says “this is leading-edge training that keeps pace with the needs of today’s active learner, allowing them to learn anytime, anywhere, within an interactive environment. It will help reduce workers’ exposure to health and safety risks, and provide a basic level of awareness for all facets of pipeline construction.”
The CSC worked with the pipeline construction industry to create the Pipeline Construction Safety Course. It will soon be available to workers and contractors across Canada at provincial construction safety associations, construction associations, labour organizations, industry training centres and community colleges.
This will be the first product to run off the CSC’s distance learning engine, a software application that allows organizations to create, store, use and re-use construction learning content in a cost-effective way. Management and supervisory training will also be available through distance learning in the near future.
Funding for this project was provided by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program.
The CSC is a not-for-profit, independent labour/business partnership organization established in 2001, to address the current and future human resource needs of the construction industry in Canada.
It has several initiatives underway to help the industry deal with the skills and labour shortage including adopting a more systemic, national approach to training, and reaching out to youth through awareness and education about construction trades.
For more information on these and other CSC programs:
Michelle Walsh
Manager, Communications
Construction Sector Council
walsh@csc-ca.org
Tel: (613) 569-5552, ext. 230
Fax: (613) 569-1220