Training for new(er) inspectors
By: Rollin Larson, State Aid Construction Specialist (Districts 6, 7, 8)
Across the state we have seen many counties, cities, and even the state having trouble hiring construction staff with experience or schooling in the construction field. This has caused more and more agencies to pivot and hire someone without this background, with the plan of developing them to meet their agency’s needs.
State Aid would like to point out some tools that are available to help you with this. The Minnesota Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) has several courses available online that can be accessed and taken, and most are free to government employees.
There are over 20 courses currently on the LTAP website. We recommend you review and decide on how these may help your staff training needs, but we especially would like to highlight the following three that may be particularly helpful to new personnel entering the construction technician field.
- Fundamentals of construction inspection
- This online course introduces new inspectors to the components and considerations for success. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of inspectors, discusses required documentation, helps you practice communication skills, and assists you in understanding project documents, which include both plan drawings and written specifications. (This is the course that was originally developed through the LRRB in 2019 as in person classes that were given across the state)
- Introduction to roadway design online series
- This series is designed to introduce you to several fundamental topics of geometric design. It consists of 16 courses from the MnDOT Geometric Design Training Series. Each course takes 1.5-2 hours to complete and includes learning resources, examples, and an assessment.
- Work zone safety orientation online course
- This course offers a convenient opportunity for beginning, seasonal, and temporary construction, maintenance, and utility staff to learn about the fundamentals of work zone safety before arriving at the job site. The course addresses many of the hazards inherent in road and street work and outlines how these dangers can be minimized to keep motorists, pedestrians, and employees safe.
If you want to see all the available online training on the MnLTAP Training and Events Catalog webpage.
Lastly, if you are looking for on-site training at your facility, here is a great new course.
- Core Temporary Traffic Control
- An LTAP instructor will bring this on-site classroom training to your agency and tailor it to meet your needs, engaging students though group discussions and exercises that pertain to their daily work and traffic control needs. Need work zone flagger training? They have that, too!