In Markham District Energy (MDE), power engineering students serve as a secondary line of defence in maintaining safety.
For 15 years, Craig Graham, MDE’s Chief Operating Engineer has been hiring students for four-month work terms. Currently, MDE employs five students per term - 15 students per year. Over the years, Graham has signed off on the Qualifying Experience Time for more than 100 students. This practical operating experience, gained while working in a registered plant, is a prerequisite for applying for higher-level Operating Engineer certifications.
Each student is paired with various operating engineers as they navigate the entire plant, learning from the operating controls, maintenance, and distribution teams. Each student is given three unique questions each week. They discuss their findings with operating engineers who share safety insights on troubleshooting and resolving issues in the plant.
Industry partners are often reluctant to hire Co-op students in their plants, as operating engineers work with high-energy equipment and complex critical systems where errors can have significant consequences.
But MDE takes a different approach by enlisting power engineering students as safety allies. The company attributes its safety track record of one lost-time injury in 25 years, and an operational record of less than three hours of service interruptions in 25 years to collaborating with power engineering students.
“Students don’t just take steam time; they give back by asking staff a lot of questions about processes and procedures, providing good review,” explains Jim Kee, Vice President of Operations. Having experienced engineers share the rationale behind safety protocols keeps their safety knowledge sharp and prevents complacency.
This supportive strategy has enabled MDE with the following advantages:
- Additional assistance with ongoing preventive maintenance, operations, and projects
- Experienced staff provide detailed, plant-specific training, constantly refreshing their knowledge as they mentor students who ask questions
- Operating engineers develop leadership skills through mentoring students
- A ready pool of trained candidates to fill Operating Engineer positions