With a number of pumpers moving into industrial vacuum loading for diversification, more big vacuum rigs are being purchased. Along with these vehicles, pumpers are buying all the hoses and other accessories to boost their companies’ bottom lines.
But before the sizable investments can translate into profits, these firms must operate the new equipment consistently and without interruption. That requires two things: effective maintenance and safe operation. While maintenance is an issue unto itself and usually performed in scheduled bursts, safe operation is an everyday, ongoing effort.
Sure, safety is usually addressed with front-loaded orientation and occasional reinforcement. But when you’re working with equipment capable of immense suction and ultra-high-pressure jetting, more rigorous and consistent safety training is required. It must be continuous, with updates as technology changes and proven methods emerge.
If you think about it, all training is theoretical until there’s an incident, after which difficult lessons are learned. But learning how to turn a significant equipment investment into profits shouldn’t cost a limb or a life. Professional pumpers venturing into the industrial realm know this, and protect their most valuable investments — their people — with another significant investment in safety training.
Pumpers share their attitudes about safety training and approaches to keeping all hazards in the realm of the theoretical for their industrial vacuum truck operators.
Canadian company CSC Ltd. performs standard septic pumping and drain cleaning, but also offers hydroexcavation and soil removal, and hydro-vacuum industrial loading, according to field supervisor Jeff Johnston. The company’s industrial cleaning customers include gas plants, refineries and automotive garages. It also gets called in to clean up hazardous material spills and to remove contaminated wastewater from blending plants. The majority of work involves hazardous materials.
When the load contents alone are cause for concern, safety training for haulers constitutes far more than your standard traffic safety, defensive driving and teaching respect for the power of the equipment. The company doesn’t fool around, requiring 80 hours of classroom training for its drivers.
This regimen is approved by the provincial Ministry for Infrastructure and Transportation’s Safety Service Division. It includes courses such as WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System), TDG (Transportation of Dangerous Goods), petroleum safety awareness, what to expect in an environment where power dynamos are running, and H2S Alive, intended for all workers in the petroleum industry who could be exposed to hydrogen sulphide (H2S), also known as sour gas.
After passing this training and gaining materials-specific certifications, drivers receive their hazardous materials driver endorsement. However, CSC believes practical training is necessary in addition to classroom training. “New hires get paired up with drivers who have at least 6-7 years of experience, until everyone agrees they’re ready to be on their own,” says Johnston. All vacuum loading operators are required to take safety refresher courses as required by provincial regulations.
At a company like KM Plant Services, with 500 employees, safety training is a full-time job. “Our company requires a thorough, 40-hour class for beginners. After you finish that, you go into the field for your hands-on experience,” explains Rich Alderson, a purchaser for the firm. The industrial cleaning and pumping company offers power vacuuming and high-pressure waterblasting.
“After that,” continues Alderson, “you can go into other extensive training to learn more about the equipment itself. Completing waterblasting, vacuum training and that kind of class will get you your Operator designation, and you can move forward in the ranks of the business. That might include things like pump maintenance and repair.”
Safety is addressed in all of this training, and KM also offers ongoing training from manufacturers on new equipment, which also covers safety. “Once a year, we have an in-house Safety Conference.” All the company’s lead workers are brought together for refresher courses on big equipment and on new best practices for operator safety.
“The purpose is to take that knowledge back to everyone on the floor to encourage safe practices there,” says Alderson. “Fresh air training, pit testing, proper use of PPE, fall protection — they cover all the bases there.” In addition to this training around accident prevention are several units addressing inevitable workplace emergencies that may somehow occur even under the best of safety conditions.
New hires hoping to drive large industrial rigs for United Oil Recovery Inc. won’t be in any of the trucks right away. “They all have 40-hour OSHA (U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training, confined space entry training, first aid and CPR,” says Tom Pelloni, the company’s fleet manager. The firm provides on-site cleaning, collection, transportation, disposal and recycling services, including handling of hazardous materials.
This classroom training is followed by a stint with an experienced driver. “They ride along 30 days with an experienced driver before they’re cut loose,” explains Pelloni. “They may drive to the site, help the driver with valves and controls to learn how the equipment works, but they’re not on the live end of a hose until they know what to expect.”
All field technicians with United are required to participate in an annual 8-hour refresher course to provide safety updates on existing equipment, plus new practices that have been established in the previous year.
