Forestry Pit and Road Construction
Equipment Operator
Certification health and safety training for operators of heavy mobile equipment used in forestry gravel and sandpits is a condition of employment across Ontario. New workers must complete common core classroom training and be registered in the certification program appropriate to their duties before they start work.

Employers and workers found to be in non-compliance with the new certification training requirements will be issued orders to comply or possibly stronger enforcement measures will be used based on the circumstances. Orders issued to employers may set a specific date for compliance or may require the employer to provide a compliance plan specifying the start and completion dates of training for workers. When issuing compliance orders, MOL inspectors will take into consideration what efforts the employers have made to establish and maintain the required training programs.

What forestry operations are considered to be surface mine operations?

The Surface Miner Program #770210 is intended for all employees, working full and part-time, in a surface mining operation. These workers must be trained in the Surface Miner common core and specialty modules that pertain to their area of work.

“Surface mine” is defined in the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants as “a pit or quarry where metallic or nonmetallic rock, mineral bearing substance, earth, clay, sand or gravel is being or has been removed by means of an excavation open to the surface to supply material for construction, industrial or manufacturing purposes and includes any work, undertaking or facility used in connection therewith but does not include a cutting for a right of way for a highway or a railroad.”

Surface mine operations as they apply to forestry include the activities that are required to operate the surface mine. These would include pit preparation, maintenance, rehabilitation or excavation and material-handling operations directly connected to the operation and conducted on the pit site.

Forestry gravel and sand pit workers with commercial surface miners in the requirements for a two-part MTCU competencybased program consisting of Surface Miner common core instruction and machine-specific skill demonstration.

Under an arrangement worked out between the MTCU Provincial Forestry Tripartite Committee and the Ministry of Labour, employers in forestry gravel and sand pit operations are able to meet the new Surface Miner common core training requirements for their workers through the revised Mechanical Harvesting Equipment Operator (MHEO) common core classroom training and accreditation program.

How does the Surface Miner certification training work for forestry gravel and sand pit workers?

Under the training arrangement, workers in forestry gravel and sand pit operations will be registered in the Surface Miner program but MAY take the MHEO common core classroom training. Upon completion of the classroom training, the workers will be required to complete the MTCU Surface Miner certification process by undergoing both a competency assessment in the common core modules and a machine-specific competency assessment on a bulldozer, excavator, front end loader or gravel haul truck, or other equipment that may be operated.

What changes have been made to the MHEO common core training so that it meets the equivalency requirements of Surface Miner common core training for forestry gravel and sand pit workers?

As of March 1, 2003, the MHEO common core training material has been revised to include training units relating to three areas of health and safety in forestry operations: emergency response planning, manually lifting and carrying material and/or supplies, and working near elevated areas. Completion of these training units provides skills and knowledge equivalent to the MTCU Surface Miner common core requirements for purposes of working in the forestry sector only.

Who is excluded from the training requirements?

Workers who are not directly connected to the surface mine operation are excluded from the requirements. Among the persons excluded are non-workers (visitors), clerical and administrative workers not involved in production activities, outside service providers such as caterers, windshield repairers, tire repairers, conveyor belt repairers, manufacturer representatives and truck drivers employed by someone from outside the surface mine operation not engaged in surface mining.

What if I am beginning work in a logging operation but I don’t plan to operate mechanical harvesting equipment? Do I have to take MHEO common core classroom training?

Completion of the MHEO common core classroom training units provides skills and knowledge equivalent to the MTCU Surface Miner common core requirements. A worker who is planning to work in a surface mine operation as defined above may take the MHEO common core classroom training or the employer must provide workers with training in an equivalent program approved by MOL and MTCU.

Who may conduct the common core classroom training associated with the forestry Surface Miner program?

Only our certified trainers may provide the MHEO common core classroom training as it relates to the forestry Surface Miner common core program. Employers should make arrangements immediately to register their workers in the Surface Miner certification program through the MTCU office in their area.

Legislation
Program Guidelines PDF (94kb)
Certification Summary
Forestry Pit and Road Construction On-site Orientations