Report & Resource Guide
Integrating Essential Skills into Training Materials
Tom Williams, Training Advisor, Benefits and Access Agreements MGP, Imperial Oil, updated delegates on Aboriginal Futures, the Petroleum Operations Training Committee and the Training and Employment database. He reviewed the objectives of Aboriginal Futures and the training funding model and reviewed the status of the POTC and the Training and Employment Database.
Before he began; however, Tom entertained and informed delegates by reviewing some history of the oil and gas industry, testing delegates’ knowledge and briefly describing the history of the industry, from an occupational safety perspective.
In 1947 when the industry was really getting started, the workforce was composed of young men. The skills required were brawn, solid work ethic, and an ability to work with machinery. Accidents were frequent and expected. Eventually, as the industry matured, employers started to look at accident rates and to implement some safety planning. One of the early approaches was to buddy a new employee with a long-term employee; for a while it seemed this idea worked. But then it was noticed that the accident rate was soaring again. Why? Analysis showed that the two groups with the worst accident rates were newer employees and long-term employees. New employees were learning the ropes while older employees tended to think they knew all the ropes and in addition the older employees may not have kept up with changes in industry practice. Pairing the two up then was not a good approach and new strategies had to be developed.
In the 1970’s a 4% rate for serious accidents was perfectly acceptable, now the target is 0%. Many thought this was an impossible target but the last fatality on a pipeline was in 1988. The processes and procedures required to reach the 0% target can be overwhelming, but they are very necessary to ensure everyone goes home at the end of a shift. The oil and gas worker of today can look at the list of the nine essential skills and assume he/she needs them all and this is why essential skills integration into training makes so much sense.