I have a week and a half to train the new guy before I go on vacation. I told the owner there is no way I will have him ready and be safe. Didn't care. What do you think?

train him the best you can...in the end..the owners are responsible for him..

I would have to question the wisdom of training a new hire vs an experienced operator.No,a week and half not good.

i had a similar experiance where i work, i did the best i could to HAMMER the safety issues into his brain until i think he wanted to strangle me but it worked out in the end. problem now is they never want to give him any time on the pump to get more experiance. fortunately my guy was able to pick up the controls fast and remembered what he was taught. i also wrote up a cheat sheet for him explaining in detail how to do everything from pretrip to washout. it helps if they have all of the tips and tricks written out for referance. good luck

i have the same problem i have been training a guy for a week and a half and the guy has real potential. and the boss told me if he is not on his own in a week he is canned. how are supposed to train someone two and half weeks? 

Many...that would be awesome if we had experienced operators knocking down our door. Deaner....I actually thought about writing out a cheat sheet for him, good idea!

Cheat sheet? Come on, that should be part of every company's safety manual. In Canada, to get a certification in some industries (A COR - Certificate Of Recognition for your safety program), you have to have a written procedure for every task. Even using a step ladder: inspection, set-up, ascending, descending, storage. Or using a 120 volt drill. Checking oil or coolant, etc.

wow mrmike36z,

your company expects you to have a trained operator in a week and half ? This goes to show us all how companies  minimize these concrete pumps.

I can some what understand this if the person at least has a valid CDL and knows how to drive them. So then basically they have to learn how the pump controls work. If the person is just doing open floor slabs then maybe in a week and half he would be ok.

We can look at this another way also and that is the money end of running a concrete pump for the operator. If a person gets hired that all ready has a CDL and it only takes a week and half to train them to run a concrete boom truck,should that operator be paid much more than a man running a mixer truck . The only differance would be that the pump operator had about 10 days more training . LOL Im kidding alittle here , but you get my drift ?

But on my end of this business, I really like the fact of inexperienced operators, as they generate alot of revenue for me with all the broken pipe arms and supports from opening/closing the booms incorrectly. LOL

When I trained new people, and I trained alot, I wouldn't even let them drive the pump for the first two weeks, much less send them out on thier own.  What a stupid idea.

My training was basicly like this:
"Mud goes in there and goes out there, pull on the sticks a bit and you figure the rest out yourself."
But I was lucky to be on a big project where advice and help was never further away than a yell over the radio to other operators.
Stayed on that project for almost 2 years before I ventured out into the real world and faced another world of pumping, but I had happely learned and experienced enought to adapt to that as well.

But 2 weeks of training before you are out on your own alone is not enough.
I would say a month at least, 2 weeks seeing and 2 weeks running supervised.

i was originally hired to run a mixer truck but the day i started one of the pump operators had hurt his back. so i got a whole 2 days of riding along and then they put me on the crappiest pump in their fleet and had one of their mechanics ride with me for a couple of weeks until i was "comfortable".

actually that pump is for sale right now check it out she's a gem! and what a steal at $9500 US!

http://www.allianceconcretepumps.com/index.cfm?method=usedPumps.showDrilldown&usedequipmentid=7477ca07-2264-112b-b1f1-4e62f383c3a1

the problem is that here in BC anyways there is no training program or any type of certification required to be a pump operator. there are no standards and so employers can get away with this crap and they do.

some paint and new grease and some lucky owner/operator would be in business Deaner !!

I know the members concretecanon and superdoffer didn't have more than 10 days training. Same with me. Thats the normal time at that compagnie. Didn't see a big problem. It also depends if the trainee has it in his blood or not which these guys defenately had!! (But some guys will never learn it.)

That doesnt sound like much time at all. I got a week on a line pump , but I was assisting the pump operator because he had an injured back for about a week before that so i was a little familiar with what went on before i started training... Was scared out of my mind when they told me i was on my own. First day solo the concrete flashed and my boss mistakenly told me i had to drive 30 minutes to our yard to wash out(i also wasnt taught about circulating and so the concrete sat and only had the augers rotating for the whole trip)  I had it so full and it was so hard i couldnt even open my grate to start chipping away and saving the pump....all i had was a bent piece of rebar, hose, and a hammer to clean the hopper too... haha

If i was training a guy on the line pump id wanna train him for more than a week and a half and its just a line pump.

One time I trained a mobile towercrane operater in 3 day's.  nothing to explaine about dunage, great feling for the controls, no problem driving havy equipment.yust 3 day's talking mud ,mud, mud. O and yes he had his boomparty, but ho hase not.lol 

superdoffer,

you lost me on that one.