Ask any owner, manager or operator in the heavy equipment industry what their most important priorities are and safety will top the list of considerations. Untrained or under-trained operators can cause a lot of damage to machines, job sites and surrounding personnel. Proper operator training is essential to reducing injury, property damage and even unplanned maintenance caused by machine misuse. One easy way for organizations to boost safety results is to make heavy equipment simulators a part of their training curriculums.  | Simulators provide a great foundation to an overall training program by providing heavy equipment operators with a safe environment to gain familiarization of controls and learn safe operating procedures. |
Realistic simulators are available for heavy equipment operator training in models such as the hydraulic excavator, medium and large off-highway trucks, wheel loader, motor grader and wheel tractor-scraper. Cat® Simulators offers a unique method of training operators safely. With realistic controls, plus high quality graphics and sound, an operator can gain practical knowledge and skills before training on the real machines. The virtual environments feature settings such as construction and mining so the operator can complete training exercises in many different situations from driving and hauling to loading and unloading—often interacting with other machines. Because operators can repeat difficult maneuvers and safety procedures on the simulator as many times as needed, they can better retain the knowledge learned when they run the actual machine. In addition, simulators help alleviate dangerous situations when operators aren’t yet familiarized with the actual heavy equipment by allowing operators to make mistakes in a virtual environment. From reminding operators to use three points of contact when climbing to enter a machine to buckling their seat belts before beginning operation, the simulators underscore safety procedures throughout every training module. Another advancement in software is SimU Campus™ training records management software. This program provides a method to record and report user performance in each simulator training module. It runs on the same computer as the simulator software (or can be networked from another computer), making it easy to get user results. The software allows instructors to evaluate safety factors such as tracking collisions, improper braking, hydraulic and bucket slams and more. The software includes benchmarks based on expert data compiled from experienced Cat heavy machine operators and lets instructors keep or change these default measurements as their user benchmarks. Test operators, choose reports and find out whether they pass or fail immediately. Then customize specific training curriculums for new or experienced operators based on their individual training needs. Even experienced operators can benefit from spending time on simulators to refresh safety procedures as needed. Software is viewed on a large monitor and the simulator is operated using hardware that includes machine steering controls, floor mounted pedals (depending on the model), control switches, a machine seat, seatbelt, computer storage box and more. Mount the simulators on a wheeled frame or in a transport trailer for easy mobility to job sites or satellite facilities. A training simulator allows heavy equipment operators to:
• Practice difficult maneuvers repeatedly until fully mastered
• Experience machine exercises in a completely safe environment
• Decrease operator anxiety in a controlled environment
• Learn specific safe operating procedures and break bad habits
• Track training performance through built-in testing
• Train anytime day or night, regardless of weather conditions
• Evaluate and address posture and other ergonomic issues that could cause fatigue
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