The internet is a powerful thing and has seemingly become the source of all knowledge – a quick web search today will get you instant results from baking a cake to building a house. So, has the internet expanded everyone’s knowledge to make everyone an expert?
Perhaps not, with fake news, misinformation, bad translations and wrong information in general, the internet can cause you more problems than you had to start with. Unless you are looking at knowledgeable, reputable databases and information from genuine industry experts, you should avoid information from so-called ‘armchair’ experts.
From knowledge to profit
The use of utility detection and avoidance tools along with survey methodology are common topics on the internet. Although there is good valuable information, some is not so good and can mislead or confuse. In the ‘good old days’, an employee would take the new guy under their wing and teach him the ropes with the inevitable journey to stores for a big stand, long wait, tin of elbow grease, and tartan paint. Remember those days?
The days of working with time-served guys has moved on for most businesses and knowledge is passed on differently, generally through dedicated learning centres. The luxury of shadowing the older guy, learning as you went and seeing all the applications on different jobs isn’t there for all anymore. The pace of modern industry means that people want the maximum they can get from a training course to be able to convert the knowledge gained into a profit earning skill.
Changing employer, job role or upskilling needs some sort of training. The best way to learn how to use any technical equipment is to attend the correct manufacturers’ courses, not copying how someone else does it on the internet. These courses, delivered by the manufacturer themselves or by an approved outside trainer, will give you valuable insight of not only how to use the equipment but how it works and why. The common practice of half-a-day product familiarisation training probably won’t get you where you want to be – more dedicated application or surveying process courses are needed.
Join the Leica Detection Campus
Receiving industry recognised certification from a reputable company, supported by the manufacturers, and delivered by someone who knows how to use the equipment and its applications, is a must.
The Leica Detection Campus has been established with a real hands-on approach. With tailored courses delivered by passionate and experienced trainers with real-life industry knowledge, you will learn:
- How the theory works and how to apply it to get the best from the equipment.
- How to understand plans and what they mean to you.
- How to locate utilities compliant with current quality levels and standards.
- How to collect digital data and produce relevant reports.
- How safe systems work and how safety in the workplace can be improved.
As a trainer, I see people with different skill sets, abilities, and techniques coming to us for training on various equipment and techniques. SKILL, TECHNIQUE and KNOWLEDGE, are things we gain as we learn, these combined give us EXPERIENCE, which each surveyor will earn with every new project and challenge.
Come to us in a bespoke training set-up at the Leica Detection Campus, or we can come to you, on your site.
I’ll leave you with this:
- A poorly trained individual, with the best equipment, cannot and will not perform as well as a competently trained individual using lesser equipment.
Steve Davies
Global Trainer – Detection Products
Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon