Over the past couple of years considerable work has been completed to identify the essential and employability skills for heavy equipment operators (HEO) and skilled labourers. OARS training Inc. developed and piloted an entry-level curriculum for essential and employability skills for HEOs and skilled labourers, through a project funded by Workplace Education Manitoba Steering Committee (WEMSC). This report discusses the program development, participant selection, pilot deliveries, project evaluation, and recommendations for future application with prior learning strategies. This report is considered PART I of the HEO project and primarily addresses the process and training for the pilot including the curriculum. PART II of this report focuses on the PLAR aspects of the potential HEO worker and the labour market that hires them.
An essential and employability skills curriculum was developed as a way to provide a pretraining assessment for potential labourers and heavy equipment operators. This program was designed to offer suitability and entry-level skill assessments for people interested in working in construction. The foundation of the program stems from the occupational standards newly set by the Manitoba Industry committee. Research looked at the core tasks from both the HEO and Skilled Labourer standards and compared this to the Building Trades Helper program from the NWT Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Branch, 2005. The Curriculum and Standards Comparison can be seen in Appendix D. To ensure the core tasks were relevant to the local labour market, OARS training interviewed subject matter experts from Operating Engineers Training Institute of Manitoba (OETIM), Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1258, and Borland Construction to identify the competencies required to be an entry-level labourer and heavy equipment operator. From this research the Course Outline and Learning Outcomes were developed (see Appendix A). The course was designed to be progressive in skill development from an entry level Labourer to the skill level of an entry level HEO. The curriculum was designed in a modularized format, which is able to accommodate people who already have prior training or experience in some of the identified competency areas.
This report discusses the pilot training that was delivered in Winnipeg. Following the initial pilot the program was delivered a second time in Fisher River Manitoba and this report is attached as Appendix E Rural Delivery.