Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/485104
29 AGGREGATES MANAGER April 2015 PLANT PROFILE Equipment List • J-36 Thomas electric pump • Powerscreen Commander 510 wash screen • Eagle Iron Works 54-inch coarse material screw • Eagle Iron Works 24-inch fine material washer • Eagle Iron Works 10-foot x 40-foot 11 station classifier • Caterpillar 980c wheel loader • Caterpillar 980h wheel loader • Caterpillar 230E L excavator • Caterpillar 12G motor grader • Ford water truck • Berkley electric water pumps (2) Sand and water flow from the screen tower into a classifier. Concrete sand is separated out and run through a dewatering screw, then carried by conveyor belt to a radial stacker for stockpiling. perform physical labor alone, there are always two of them. The dredge opera- tor doesn't leave the dredge without somebody knowing about it. When our safety manager goes to make his walkaround, he takes another employee with him. No matter what you're do- ing, you can lose your life doing it, so you've got to do it right." The crew Like most aggregate operations these days, Indian Village Plant deals with the issue of finding and keeping good em- ployees. Four people at the plant have retired within the last 10 years. "That's good, they deserve to go and enjoy their life," Young says, "but I have to bring new people in and train them. The only way we're going to survive in any kind of business is training people the right way, and safety's a big part of it." Choosing the right person for the job can be challenging in a small town, however. It can be difficult, if not im- possible, to find someone with any mining experience, so Young says he looks for someone who wants to learn. "I don't think you can take just any- body off the street and make a miner out of him, but you know what you're looking for, and sometimes you just go on a hunch," Young says. "My dredge operator was running a front-end load- er for a contractor the first time I ever saw him. I watched him load trucks for a while. He was running a horrible piece of equipment, and I thought, 'this guy's really trying or he wouldn't be on that thing…I'm going to talk to him.' It has been nine years now. I think I made a wise decision to stop and watch him and talk with him. That's how you get good employees." All new hires at the plant receive eight hours of training before they ever leave the office. The training includes verbal instruction, as well as videos on what to do and what not to do. As time goes on, the employee receives training on different jobs in the plant, but the focus is always on staying safe. "You really need to get the attention of new folks nowadays," Young says. "My first day in the business, the old man who trained me said, 'Come with me, I want to show you all the places you can die out here.' He really got my attention when he told me that, so I use that same speech with all our new hires. It worked for me, and it works for them." AM Trinity Industries in Dallas built a new hull and outriggers to replace the old dredge in 2009.