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Keith Van Bibber is what you might call a “go-to” guy.
After repeated stints in Northern B.C.’s booming oil and gas sector, this entrepreneur from the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation possesses valuable work experience and excellent contacts. In fact, there are companies that now count on him to send Yukon crews south with very little notice.
But a “go-to” guy can only go so far. At the best of times, Van Bibber can be hard-pressed to pull together enough trained workers to satisfy demand. When he’s in the field with a hands-on cutting job, the challenge is even more difficult.
“I can’t run a power saw and operate a cell phone at the same time,” he observes.
This realization resulted in a pilot project this past winter that was funded by the Yukon government, administered by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, and delivered by Van Bibber. Its goal: to help more Yukoners tap into red-hot oil and gas job markets, primarily in B.C. and Alberta. Increased employment for Yukoners is the immediate benefit. However, success will ultimately position local workers and businesses to realize economic opportunities from increasing oil and gas activity in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Cree Woman Contracting and C.B.C. & Associates Enterprises Ltd. are two Fort St. John companies with whom Van Bibber has established strong working relationships. These firms get contracts to clear trees and brush for seismic exploration, pipeline right-of-ways, roads and oilfields. The work creates plenty of seasonal employment for experienced chainsaw operators, among others.
“Slashing crews are probably the best paid people, as far as labour is concerned,” C.B.C & Associates Enterprises president Clarence Apsassin says. “There’s no comparison.”
Yet companies must routinely scramble after qualified personnel. Naturally, they would prefer to hire nearby workers than lose money and time bringing people from as far away as Newfoundland. But Yukoners who want to fill available positions, including saw operators, need advantages besides geography. The key is training—and what it produces.
“Tickets,” Van Bibber emphasizes. “Tickets upon tickets.”
The Petroleum Industry Training Service (PITS) issues must-have certification tickets for safety around chainsaws and hydrogen sulfide gas. Depending on the job, workers might require another half-dozen or more certifications, including occupational first aid and Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS). At various times, the necessary tickets can be acquired through courses offered at Yukon College.
While the pilot project addressed the need to raise awareness about these training requirements and opportunities, it also focused on the need to improve connections between trained workers and companies eager to hire. |
Employers can’t always depend on knowledgeable facilitators like Van Bibber, so they value immediate and direct access to suitable recruits.
“Work in the patch—it starts up so suddenly,” Richard Knott of Cree Woman Contracting says. “We could get a call today that says ‘We need 60 guys,’ and they all have to be ticketed and trained. So it’s hard to plan ahead for that.”
This reality highlights the importance of appropriate recruitment tools.
“I’ve been trying to get a database of the workforce—of who’s out there,” Van Bibber says. “I was born and raised in the Yukon and still don’t know all the cutters that are out there.”
He adds that many Yukoners who have their tickets can also be empowered by better information. Unfamiliarity with companies in the oil and gas industry is a frequent obstacle to placement.
Stephen Trudeau has 25 years of chainsaw experience, along with PITS-certified training, but still found it difficult to break in.
“This past winter, I had trouble getting a job because I didn’t have the contacts,” says the Whitehorse resident.
Eventually, Van Bibber and the pilot project came through with a short-term placement that has already generated future employment.
“I’d like to continue working in oil and gas,” Trudeau says.
As Van Bibber points out, Trudeau and other cutters must follow industry changes as well. Chainsaw operators will be required to demonstrate 120 days of experience in order to have their current PITS-certified Chainsaw Safety Training “grandfathered” before new standards are put in place on July 31, 2006. Without that experience under their belts, chainsaw operators will be required to spend additional time and money to take the PITS New Faller Training Standard course, which has established a higher level of training.
Van Bibber is understandably eager for certified Yukoners to get the necessary experience before the new standards are put in place. Those who do will remain highly employable in the oil and gas industry—and can help build upon the efforts of the pilot project.
“We have an advantage right now,” he says. “The window’s open to get as many Yukon people trained for work down south or wherever the work may be.”
With increasing oil and gas activity in the Yukon, as well as two northern pipelines on the horizon, “wherever” means closer and closer to home these days. This is certainly welcome news for Van Bibber and the trained Yukon crews that are already in high demand and, thanks to innovative efforts like the recent pilot project, are also poised to reap the rewards of future activity.
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Last Updated 30-01-2006
