Airplane operators (pilots) and plant operators have a few things in common: most notably: 1) they both have to be able to manage the occasional unexpected moments of chaos in the midst of hours and days of routine and mundane operations; and 2) they are retiring fast and taking their knowledge and skills with them.
If you think about it, crash landing a jet airplane safely in a river requires the same set of skills needed to prevent a reactor at a chemical plant from becoming a highly explosive flying object; Intimate knowledge of the machinery and the process, as well as the ability to observe, orient, decide and act are essential to safe operations in both instances.
The safe crash landing of the US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15th by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is nothing short of a heroic demonstration of skill and courage. All 155 people on board survived the crash in the icy waters of the Hudson.
For his fabulous handling of a potentially catastrophic abnormal situation, Captain Sully became an instant hero and received significant recognition...
That’s fantastic since we all love our heroes.
But to be fair about it, there are many silent heroes in our industry who everyday mitigate major abnormal situations in processing plants, and we hardly ever hear about them. These are knowledge worker operators whose experience and know-how help safely run the power, chemical, refining and other important manufacturing plants that afford us the quality of life we enjoy today.
The alarming concern about plant operators these days is that they are a rare breed of aging workforce who are about to exit
the industry en masse. Similar to the baby boomer airplane operators/pilots (see Wall Street Journal article) in the commercial airline industry, the aging
plant operators are also retiring soon. And when they do, they will leave a huge knowledge gap
behind.
The current global economic slowdown may incentivize the knowledge worker operator to stick around a bit longer, but the problem of the aging workforce is not going away any time soon.
It is refreshing, though, to see that some industry executives are proactively searching for answers to mitigate the consequences of the aging knowledge worker exodus. In fact, a group of them are assembling at our User’s Conference next month to discuss, debate, and articulate the problem and the initiatives their respective companies are taking to deal with the issue.
So, take the time to sign up for the PAS Users Conference, and join us for an enlightening session on the issue of the Aging Workforce in the power and processing industries..
If the aging workforce is a concern in your company, drop me a note. I’d love to hear what you and your company are doing about it.
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