Training for underground utility and relocation contractors
Every crew digslike your best crew.
Field Lessons turns how your best foremen, drillers, and operators work into lessons every crew member takes on their phone, in English or Spanish. QR sign-in with no email, a quick exam at the end, and records you can hand a utility owner or prime contractor.
- Works alongside OQ and association training
- English and Spanish
- No email needed
Your best foreman can't be on every job.
Crews move from site to site. Every utility owner has its own specs. New hires learn from whoever they ride with that week. And the people who know how to keep a relocation job clean, the foreman who reads conflicts on the plans, the driller who brings a bore in, the operator who never misses a line, can't be everywhere.
Every job is different.
Different owners, specs, inspectors, and sites, often in the same month.
New hires learn by watching.
What they pick up depends on who they ride with.
A strike costs more than time.
Repairs, claims, and a utility owner asking how your crew was trained.
Know-how walks out the door.
When a veteran retires or moves on, his way of doing it leaves with him.
What gets captured
Your company's way, from the people who do it best.
Standard courses teach the general rules. Field lessons teach how your company actually does the work, on your jobs, for your utility owners.
- Working a locate ticketChecking the ticket, walking the marks, and what to do when they don't match the plans.
- Potholing and vacuum excavationWhen your crews expose lines, how they do it, and what they record.
- HDD setup and trackingWhat your best driller and locator check before and during a bore.
- Each utility owner's specsShort lessons for each owner or project, assigned to the crews on that job.
- Traffic control and site setupHow your company sets up on road jobs, every time.
- Documentation and restorationPhotos, records, backfill, and cleanup to your standard and the owner's.
How it works
Send us what you have. We do the rest.
Pick a task
One lesson covers one task, like potholing before a bore. More to cover? We group lessons into a course.
Send us what you have
A one-page questionnaire, your procedures, foreman's notes, or a phone video under 5 minutes. Video is optional.
We build the lesson
Built in English and Spanish, with real jobsite situations and a quick exam at the end.
Crews scan and start
QR sign-in on their phone. Completions, exam results, and field sign-offs show up on your dashboard.
Works alongside the training you already have.
Keep using your OQ program, NUCA and Common Ground Alliance courses, and competent person training for the standard rules.
Field Lessons covers what they can't: your company's own methods, each utility owner's specs, onboarding for new crew members, and the know-how of your best people. All of it is tracked in one place, so you know who's learned what.
Training records
Know who's learned it, on every crew.
QR or PIN sign-in
Each crew member signs in with their own badge or PIN. No company email needed.
A quick exam on every lesson
Results go straight to your dashboard, with reminders for anyone who falls behind.
Foreman sign-offs
Record when a foreman confirms a crew member can do the task right in the field.
Organized by crew or project
Group people by crew, site, or project, and assign the right lessons to each.
Tailgate meetings count too
The crew scans one code at a morning meeting, and everyone gets their own record.
Records you can hand over
Export who completed what, and when, for a utility owner, prime contractor, or insurer.
FAQ
Questions utility contractors ask.
Does this replace OQ training?
No. Operator Qualification for gas work is set by the utility owner and its OQ provider. Field Lessons works alongside your OQ program and covers your company's own methods, onboarding, and know-how.
Does this replace competent person or NUCA training?
No. Keep using association and standard courses for competent person, confined space, and general damage prevention. Field Lessons covers how your company does the work.
We work for several utility owners. Can lessons cover each one's specs?
Yes. Build a short lesson for each utility owner or project, and assign it to the crews on that job, including subs and mid-project hires.
Can crews take it in Spanish?
Yes. Every lesson is built in English and Spanish, with narration available in both, so each crew member learns in the language they understand best.
Do crew members need email or an app?
No. They scan a QR badge with their phone camera, or enter a company code and PIN. No email, no password, no app to download.
Do we have to film anything?
No. Video is optional. A lesson can come from a one-page questionnaire, your written procedures, or notes from your foreman. If you do film, a few minutes on a normal day is enough.
Field Notes
For utility contractors.
Damage Prevention Training for Underground Utility Contractors
Most strikes happen after the 811 ticket. Here's how to train the steps that prevent them.
How to Train Crews on Potholing and Vacuum Excavation
Marks tell you roughly where a line is. Potholing tells you exactly. Here's how to train it.
Training HDD Crews: Capturing What Your Best Driller Knows
A good driller and locator can bring a bore in clean. Here's how to pass that judgment on.
Your best crew's way, on every job.
Tell us about your crews and the know-how you want to keep. We'll walk you through a sample lesson in 20 minutes.