What You Can Learn in a Shipyard Tools and Equipment Training Course

Over 165,000 workers are employed in shipyards across the country, including inland waters. All those employees are subject to hot work, confined spaces, and contact with various chemical hazards. Without appropriate training, they endanger their lives and those they work alongside.

A shipyard tools and equipment training course is one way a worker can prepare themselves for what they may encounter in the field. Ideally, this would be taken alongside other courses such as Shipyard Ergonomics Online Training and HAZMAT training.

Here's what your shipyard tools and equipment course can teach you.

What Is Shipyard Safety?

Shipyard safety means creating a safer environment for yourself and your peers. It also means getting your work done efficiently without any delays or causing damage to the parts you're working on.

Some of the benefits you can expect from safety training include:

• Reduction in workplace incidents
• Improved worker morale
• Cost savings
• Legal compliance
• Increased productivity
• Better crisis management

Overview of Shipyard Operations

The first area that your shipyard training will cover is general operations. You'll learn about the shipbuilding process, the layout of a shipyard, and the types of vessels you'll need to work on. This also includes the workforce and roles that operate in a shipyard.

Safety Protocols

The next step of any training course is teaching the safety protocols and procedures. Employees must understand the importance of something like personal protective equipment and how to read safety signage. They may also need to learn emergency procedures for their shipyard.

For example, maritime shipbuilding often includes working around fire hazards. You'll need to be able to check your work area for any combustible materials or sources of ignition. Fire extinguishers should be within reach just in case of an emergency.

Working in hotter temperatures can cause property damage and endanger your life. These risks will need to be mitigated to prevent an accident.

Your training should also cover the importance of adequate ventilation. This allows for heat to dissipate as well as avoid the accumulation of flammable fumes.

Shipyard Equipment and Workshop Training

As part of your training course, you'll gain extensive knowledge of how to use both basic and more complex tools and equipment.

On the basic side, you have your hammers, wrenches, drills, and grinders. More complex equipment includes cranes, forklifts, and welding machines. Expect to engage in theoretical knowledge as well as hands-on practice.

An important area of your training will be in personal protective equipment or PPE.

There's a long list of OSHA regulations that determine how businesses approach work hazards. Some require you to wear gloves when dealing with certain materials or even eyewear along with other face protection. Protective eyewear could include face shields, goggles, and helmets.

Some of the various workplace hazards are chemicals, dust, heat, and potential impacts. In a shipyard, you may find yourself in contact with all of these hazards at one point or another.

Material Used in Shipbuilding

There is a wide variety of materials used in shipbuilding, and not all of them are safe to handle without proper PPE. You likely will need extensive training on HAZMAT protocol in addition to a tools and equipment training course.

Some of the areas your training will touch on include how to handle, store, and dispose of the various materials. This includes any hazardous materials in a shipyard, such as fuel, hydraulic fluid, and cargo residues.

In addition, you'll gain some training on how to inspect various tools and equipment for defects or wear and tear.

Welding and Metal Fabrication

Much of the work at a shipyard includes welding and cutting steel, machining, and electrical work. As such, you can expect your training course to include those areas as well as some hands-on action.

If you aren't trained to weld, then you may injure yourself, cause a fire, or even cause parts of your work to come undone later on. It's one of the most important parts of constructing a ship.

Rigging Techniques

Rigging techniques are another important area to cover, as they involve the safe lifting and moving of heavy equipment and parts.

The responsibilities of a crane rigger are to prepare the worksite, anchor and align machinery, add loads, and coordinate the movement of heavy machinery. They must also calculate the weight of loads and comply with OSHA regulations.

A rigger will also need to know things like what type of hitch configuration to adopt and the ideal sling angle.

For example, the vertical hitch has one hook on one end of the sling and the other attached to the load. This allows them to utilize the sling's full hauling capacity for heavier objects.

Environmental Compliance

One area that new workers may not consider is environmental regulations. These regulations ensure that any hazardous or otherwise harmful materials are disposed of in a way that does not endanger people or the environment.

Complying with HAZMAT regulations also means that your employer won't run into any legal trouble. Not only would this mean a hefty fine but also potentially shut down the entire operation.

Shipyard Ergonomic Online Training

The final piece of training new workers need is shipyard ergonomics. This covers how different tools, workstations, and tasks can affect the human body. It provides information on how to identify risks to yourself, the proper lifting techniques and posture, and how to use ergonomic equipment.

Your online training module should include case studies and real-life examples. You'll also likely see interactive content like videos and animations.

Try Online Shipyard Tools and Equipment Training

An online shipyard tools and equipment training course is the perfect option if you want accessibility and high-quality lessons. Taking this type of course is essential if your workers want to stay safe in the workplace and prevent accidents from happening on their watch.

Compliance Training Online has helped keep your employees safe and your company compliant since 2008. Our high-quality online training courses include OSHA, DOT HAZMAT, EPA, and more.

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