Skills Shortage - Identification of Needs for Engineering Training in Longwalls

This report investigates the impacts of the skills shortage on the productivity of longwall faces.  The scope is limited to the supervisors and crews that operate, maintain and procure the longwall face equipment.  Using a combination of face-to-face interviews and written questionnaires, the industry was canvassed about the impacts of the skills shortage, the current level of skilling and the competence of the workforce to perform its assigned tasks without supervision.  The participants also identified the skillsets and levels of understanding required to allow them to work unsupervised, and the preferred delivery methods for training in the identified skills.

An Industry Advisory Group was assembled to provide insight and advice to the research team with regards to the survey process and the interpretation of results.  The survey data was drawn from face to face interviews from four mines and questionnaires completed by sixteen mines in Queensland and New South Wales.  The data is analysed and the results presented along with conclusions and recommendations for future training.