[instrumental music]
[Brian Dresel] One of the recent graduates of the program is working a gas turn on order.
As part of a turn on order he is simulating establishing gas to a building.
So, part of that work involves checking for gas leaks,
verifying that the proper gas pressure's being served to the customer,
and also checking the regulator to make sure the regulator's operating properly.
He's going to also cycle the appliances inside the building
to make sure that they're operating properly,
check the venting systems, make sure the vents are venting all the fumes from the building.
Another recent graduate of the program
also went on to find employment with Missouri Gas Energy, uh,
and that's who you're seeing here.
He is investigating a gas leak right now.
Part of investigating a gas leak is, obviously, arriving at the address, the leak address.
He's letting the dispatcher know that he's arrived.
He's then going to use his flame pack to check for leaks
along the edge of the road and around the regulator station.
Any indications that he gets with his flame pack, he's gonna check
with a combustible gas indicator and a bar hold to check for readings below ground.
There are many topics that are covered.
It's an intense program.
There's a lot of classroom training.
The topics that are covered include tool safety,
gas leak investigation, establishing gas to customers,
running high bill orders when someone's bill is higher than what it normally would be, uh,
changing meters, setting meters, leak survey, all different aspects of gas field work,
everything from the work that takes place in the customers homes
through the work that involves installing gas lines,
maintaining underground gas lines and any kind of gas field work.
Students learn how to operate a backhoe.
They don't become backhoe operators,
it's part of the course because hands-on experience is a big part of backhoe operation.
But they get the mechanical part of how a backhoe operates.
Operating jackhammers, drills, saws, other hand tools,
hydraulic and air tools is covered in the training as well.
I've been in the natural gas industry since 1989, held various positions, uh,
everything from the person who digs the holes to put the gas lines in
to the serviceman who goes in houses and turns on customers gas.
Uh, I've been a supervisor and now I'm the facility manager here.
Uh, I've got 25 years of experience in the gas industry.
I've been a supervisor. I've been a service person.
And currently, I'm an instructor.
My area of expertise is installation and service
which includes establishment of gas, leak investigation,
carbon monoxide investigation, and meter sets.
Throughout the course, students train with live, natural gas under controlled conditions.
We control all the ignition sources so we don't have any incidents here during training.
We've never had an accident during training, uh,
but we do want to make the training as realistic as possible
so whenever the students turn on gas to a simulated customer's house,
it's a real gas meter, real gas line, real gas appliances,
and we're doing everything that they would do out in the field
whenever they begin their new careers working for one of the gas companies out there.
My background is in the fire service and safety fields
where I retired as a fire chief after 25 years.
Part of my responsibilities is to instill safety practices in the students
both here at the training center and in their future careers in the gas industry.
[Brian] Uh, what we're standing here in front of
are some of our training houses here at the training center.
Each one of these houses has a gas service line run to it and its own gas meter.
Inside are various gas appliances
and we use these houses to create gas leak scenarios
and also to give the students an opportunity to turn on gas to the individual houses.
These are simulating a customer's home.
Throughout the program, we'll discuss fusion of plastic polyethylene piping.
We will go over the proper and safe way of hand digging.
We will go over the proper procedure in tapping our still mains.
We will also use hands-on tools, as a jackhammer, a street drill, a street saw.
The training that we will provide for you of the basic natural gas industry work
will help and assist you in finding employment throughout the nation.