College project “refining” the training process
2/5/2001 10:07:19 AM
Clarenville, February 5, 2001 - The process of refining oil is a complex one to say the least.
And while the employees at North Atlantic Refinery in Come By Chance are well-trained, highly skilled individuals, the refinery is always looking to offer further training to its employees.
That’s where the Distributed Learning Centre of College of the North Atlantic comes in.
John King is the centre's manager. He says the college and North Atlantic Refining have worked together on a number of training projects, and the refinery is a founding partner in the creation of the Distributed Learning Centre. When King met with refinery managers to discuss online training opportunities, they expressed a need for training modules that could be completed by employees while on the job.
King then met with private sector partners IDON EAST of St. John's and Hollett and Sons Inc. (HSI) of Shoal Harbour together with North Atlantic Refining in order to develop a project plan. With the college providing instructional design, IDON EAST bringing e-learning expertise and HSI providing the evaluation framework to measure success, a proposal was submitted to the Office of Learning Technologies (a branch of HRDC) and funding for the project was provided under a program called Learning Technology Initiatives.
There are many different posts or processing units in the refinery. North Atlantic Refining provides the college with all the pertinent information on a specific refinery processing unit and associated equipment. The whole process is then segmented into 70 interactive, user-friendly training modules with guidance from all parties involved – College of the North Atlantic, North Atlantic Refining, and IDON EAST. The finished product will include a series of computer-based training CDs for installation on North Atlantic Refining’s existing in-house training network.
These training programs can be accessed by employees at anytime. Each of the 70 modules explaining the operation of a specific oil refining processing unit takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and employees are tested throughout the modules. Testing enables refinery management to track employee progress.
“At our refinery we have some of the brightest, most highly skilled people running our operation,” says Gunther Baumgartner, North Atlantic Refining President.
“This interactive method of training is an excellent way for our employees to upgrade their processing skills and maintain a vast knowledge of operational procedures, making our refinery safer and more efficient.”
Baumgartner goes on to say that having a highly skilled, quick to react workforce is crucial in the refining business.
“That’s why we have the best people working with us,” he adds.
This computer-based training program helps North Atlantic employees keep operating procedures fresh in their minds and gives future operations personnel the opportunity to learn various refining procedures.
The technology can also be used to offer continual on-demand job training in many other sectors of the economy.
King says employees at the refinery will be able to start their on-demand training as early as April of this year, although the overall project won’t be completed until March of 2003.
The total cost of the project is $201,000 with about half of that ($98,900) being provided by the Office of Learning Technologies in Ottawa, and the remainder being sponsored by North Atlantic Refining.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Officer
College of the North Atlantic
Tel: (709) 643-7928
Fax: (709) 643-7932
Email: stephen.lee@northatlantic.nf.ca
Or
Gloria Warren Slade
Communication Coordinator
North Atlantic Refining
Tel: (709) 463-3472
Fax: (709) 463-5535
gloriaslade@na-refining.nf.ca