The Interior Logging Association is offering a free forest harvesting heavy equipment operator training program.
This program has been developed by the industry to meet the needs of employers in the forest-harvesting sector.
Students will receive two weeks of classroom training at Thompson Rivers University followed by six weeks of practical-based training with a strong emphasis on in-seat operation and safety.
Students will have the opportunity to train on an active logging block with expert operators to ensure all skills and competencies of heavy equipment operations are achieved. They will also receive training in safety systems, quality control and gain perspectives on production efficiencies through the forest-harvesting environment.
On completion of the program, students will receive an Interior Logging Association diploma of completion for the heavy equipment operator – forest harvesting program. The program staff will work with the students and employers from the onset of the program to match graduating students with local contractors.
The first session began Nov. 3, with a second intake running Dec. 8 to Feb. 17.
This initiative is geared towards people who are not employed or under-employed, and not currently receiving employment insurance and have not established an EI claim in the last three years, or in the case of maternal/parental, five years.
For more information, visit www.interiorlogging.org, or call Wayne Lintott at 250-503-2199.
