Digger derrick training gets off the ground
Homegrown digger derrick training is a winwin scenario for North Dakota’s electric cooperatives and the state’s workforce.
A partnership between TrainND Northwest, the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) and Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative (MWEC) is making it happen.
Digger derricks are used to dig holes and set electric poles, which is heavy work that requires precision. “It’s a piece of equipment that can hurt people,” said Kenley Nebeker, executive director of TrainND Northwest and president of the TrainND Foundation.
“The training we offered was previously done by an out-of-state company. The approach wasn’t the most cost effective and there were often inconsistencies in training. When you’re building a safety culture, you need consistency,” Nebeker said. “This is why we decided to explore offering the training in-house.”
TrainND Northwest connected with NDAREC about partnering in the digger derrick training effort.
A key hurdle was how to procure the digger derrick equipment. Conversations with MWEC General Manager Alex Vournas led to a solution.
“Upon conversations with the MWEC board of directors, Alex offered to let us take over ownership of two digger derricks they were moving out of commission,” Nebeker said. “We were able to purchase them at a very reasonable price.”
With the pieces in place, the actual training will happen at TrainND Northwest in Williston and at the NDAREC indoor training facility in Mandan.
The course is five days of training, including theory in the classroom, “then a lot of practice to use it safely and efficiently,” Nebeker said. The first year will be a big push to get as many lineworkers trained as possible.
“I can see it being in the range of 200 people,” Nebeker said.
The partnership is also considering adding the digger derrick training to the lineworker program at Bismarck State College.
“That gives them the digger derrick certification as an added benefit when they are hired,” Nebeker said.
Vournas called the training partnership a win for the state.
“Electric cooperatives depend on a prepared workforce, so this is a significant step forward for the industry and the people we hire,” Vournas said. “It also helps ensure the safety of our workers, which we consider of paramount importance, not just for our team, but also for our members and their families.”
While the biggest win is for safety, training costs will also be reduced by around 20% to 30% by the partnership.
“We’re always looking for synergies and ways to cooperate through workforce training,” Nebeker said.
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Pictured from left: Jen Nebeker, TrainND Office Manager/Technical Program Coordinator; Dubi Cummings, MWEC PR & Communications Manager; Todd Melland, MWEC Fleet Maintenance Foreman; Alex Vournas, MWEC General Manager; Kenley Nebeker, TrainND Executive Director; Jason Mathers, TrainND Safety Instructor; Casey Benth, TrainND Safety Instructor; Aric Thorstad, TrainND Safety Instructor.