Order of
work
- Walk around before anything starts Pre-start done properly, with the operator doing it, not watching it. Faults get called out loud and written down.
- Ground first, machine second Read the floor. Where it is soft, where the sand sits, where water has been, where the last shift left a mess.
- Seat, mirrors, controls, radio Set the cab up for the person in it. Channels confirmed and a call made before the machine moves.
- Slow passes, no bucket Positioning and turning circles first. Feel the machine empty before it is asked to carry anything.
- Load, place, repeat Bucket fill, approach angle, tyre path, spillage. Repeated until it is boring, because boring is the point.
- Sign it off, or don't Verification of competency against the standard, with the record completed on the day. If it is not there, it is not signed.
Torque setting
Run it in like a new red motor. Gentle first, up to temperature, no flogging it cold. The ones brought on properly are still going at 300,000.
Assessment
What a sign-off is actually worth
The
record
A verification of competency is a promise made to the next supervisor, the next crew and the operator's family. It says this person can do this task, on this machine, on this ground, without hurting anybody.
So it gets done on the day, against the standard, with the evidence written down while it is fresh. Not from memory at the end of swing. Not because the roster is short and someone needs a body in a seat.
The hardest part of the job is the sign-off you don't give. Saying "not yet" to a good bloke who wants to get on with it is not a popular conversation. It is still the right one, and every operator I have said it to has come back and got it.
Selection
What I look for in a new operator
Signs
of it
- They do the walk-around the same when nobody is watching.
- They ask the question they think is stupid.
- They look at the ground before they look at the machine.
- They slow down when they are unsure instead of committing to it.
- They tell you when they have done something wrong, early, while it is still small.
- They can be bored. Production work is the same movement thousands of times, and the ones who need excitement find it in the wrong places.
Torque setting
Anyone can drive fast. Getting a big machine to do exactly what you meant, all shift, every shift, is the same as getting a car through a corner properly. Smooth is the whole skill.