Owners and contractors in and around Sarnia were the latest to hear about the innovations Boilermakers are bringing to the table to help make them more competitive and efficient.

The Sarnia Owners Appreciation Day was held September 8, with representatives from the Boilermaker Contractors Association, contractors and owners.

Presentations on redundant safety training, apprenticeship and continuing education, Boilermakers Total Health and the new Boilermakers Job Ready smartphone app left the contractors and owners with a new appreciation of the way members of our union make their projects more efficient and productive.

"We want to demonstrate our cost efficiency to the industry," said IVP Joe Maloney. "Extra costs always end up at the owners' table."

National standards

National Health and Safety Representative Allan Belter reviewed the Boilermakers' effort to set national standards for health and safety training that could save Boilermaker contractors and owners more than $4 million per year.

"We know there are issues and we all want safety on the job," he said.

But typically, if a Boilermaker works on four different jobs for the same contractor, he or she will have to take four fit tests, two respirator training sessions and two fall arrest courses, even though the Boilermaker may have already taken this training multiple times.

"The problem is that safety people know [our members] don't need [the repeat training]," Belter said. "They see it as a cost of doing business."

Contractors are "pouring money down the drain" with the extra training, he said. Money is wasted in the extra cost of the repetitive training, the extra time it takes to mobilize people to the jobsite and the resulting loss of productivity.

For individual Boilermakers, there's also a high cost, he said, using as an example a member from out of province who needs to spend an extra two or three days before going to a jobsite to take repeat training. "People suffer when they can't get to jobs," he said.

"The proposed national training standards have been accepted by government-approved trainers and by employers across Canada", Maloney said. "We're asking you to accept these standards".

App saves money

Another value-added service from the Boilermakers that helps contractors is the Boilermaker Job Ready app, which can save expense both in the dispatch of qualified members and in jobsite sign-in.

"The app allows members to keep an online record of their qualifications and certificates," explained the union's Workforce Planner Jayne Clemance.

Boilermakers can use the app to find out about new work opportunities and to apply for them. Dispatchers can use the data to make sure qualified people are sent to the jobsite.

Members can also use their online archive of qualifications and certificates to check in at jobsites. Members sometimes forget to bring their certificates when checking in, causing delays and lost productivity. But the new app, launched in the Spring, allows members to send a copy of their certificate to the contractor and arrive at the jobsite without paper certificates.

More than 1,400 Boilermakers have downloaded a copy of the app from their Apple, Android or Microsoft app stores.

Training benefits

Director of National Training Grant Jacobs demonstrated how the national Boilermaker training program helps employers hire Boilermakers with the best qualifications.

"At National Training, we react to what we hear [from owners and contractors] at our tripartite meetings," he said. "That's where we can hear about the need for new or different training."

Jacobs outlined the joint labour-management structure of the National Training Trust Fund and its leading role in setting up a national apprenticeship curriculum that ensures apprentice-training standards are the same across Canada.

He outlined innovative online programs that help Boilermakers stay at the top of the trade, such as the Boilermaker Virtual Campus and a new course on finances that is helping to retain some of the 15% of Boilermakers who leave the trade for financial reasons.

"National Training has $67 million worth of training infrastructure across Canada and spends about $6.7 million a year to keep our members up to date," he reported.

Health and safety

National Director of Health and Safety Jason McInnis explained that most occupational-related illness now arises from factors that can be controlled away from the job.

He said that the Boilermakers Total Health (BtH) program, which combines occupational safety, lifestyle health promotion and a national system of records, benefits members by helping them get the most from their careers and helps owners by ensuring members are up to the physical demands of the job.

BtH is encouraging members to get annual medical exams from their own doctors, in order to eliminate the need for employer-sponsored "fit for work" testing, which the union finds intrusive and does not respect members' privacy. This program will also save contractors money as they will no longer have to pay for "fit for work" programs of dubious value.

Another new initiative encourages Boilermakers to have their hearing tested regularly, since hearing loss is a known risk for our members. The hearing-loss risk was recognized more than 100 years ago, when a condition called "Boilermaker's ear" was recorded. The testing program has been backed by new health and welfare benefits that supply free custom-molded ear protection to members.

Off the job, BtH now allows members to enroll in online fitness programs like the ones that pro athletes use in the NHL and NBA, he said.

The value added that the Boilermakers union supplies to employers extends to our job-forecasting models, which help to ensure we can supply Boilermakers when they're needed. Jayne Clemance explained how the program forecasts the number of Boilermakers needed, and showed statistics that demonstrated the accuracy of the forecasts.

The Owners Appreciation Day was one of a number that have been scheduled across Canada. Sessions have been held in Edmonton and Sarnia and are slated for October and November in St. John's NL, Saint John NB and Regina SK.