RMC-11-40 Owner Based Maintenance Training: Challenges – Solutions – End Products

Description:

As many long term maintenance employees begin to retire, industry is faced with an ever increasing challenge of finding, training and retaining a qualified workforce. This paper focuses on one Refiner’s approach to embracing this challenge. In late 2007, Frontier El Dorado faced the realization that the median age of our craft workforce was 58 with more than 20 years on the job. We recognized that we had to make a decision, either outsource our craft maintenance or start an aggressive hiring and training regime. We also had to somehow assure that we adequately transferred knowledge from our retiring employees. We carefully examined our fundamental core skill requirements and based our presumptions on the diversity and vintages of our equipment. We reviewed contractor craft skill training programs and determined that either way, our employees or contractor employees; it would require considerable investment and effort on our part to meet these fundamental requirements. After much debate, beginning in mid year 2008, we embarked on an aggressive program to develop and implement a craft skills assessment and training program that encompasses a multi tiered Apprenticeship through three levels of Journeyman. Though still very much a “work in progress”, this program has proven to be both challenging and successful. This paper will walk through many of our challenges, the solutions we chose and the end product, a program that thus far is exceeding our expectations.