Hydro Tasmania Case Study 2008

WGL Case Study

Hydro Tasmania Level 2 Upgrade

Background

Hydro Tasmania generates renewable energy using hydro and wind power for the Tasmanian community. As one of the largest employees in the state, with infrastructure covering the entire state from the capital Hobart to the wilds of the West Coast, Hydro Tasmania needed a flexible and comprehensive induction program for its 800 employees and 3,500 contractors and at the same time free key business resources.

WGL worked with Hydro Tasmania to develop a three level induction program.

Level 1 is a corporate employee induction.

Level 2 is a field induction that needs to be completed by everyone accessing a Hydro Tasmania field site.

Level 3 is a site induction for each specific site.

The Problem

The enormous geographical area covered by the 51 Hydro Tasmania worksites, the diverse range of contractors, local, national and international and the urgent / short time frame nature of much of the work saw the level 2 component of the induction program imposing a significant burden on the organisation in terms of manpower and cost, and level of frustration on contractors as they tried to organise inductions at short notice.

The Solution

Beginning in 2003 WGL worked with Hydro Tasmania rolling out a pilot program, refining content using the Workplace Foundations content framework and ultimately deploying in 2005 a complete, fully managed online induction program and help desk for employee and contractors.

The induction program included online multimedia content and a comprehensive assessment procedure with defined competencies to ensure that the induction objectives had been met.

People that required help to met the competency criteria where individually assisted by WGL - once again enabling Hydro Tasmania staff to focus on core business activities rather then get caught in the day to day operations of assessment and assessment followup.

The Induction program uses the VICTORY Learning Management System module to deliver, track, assess and report.

The induction is fully managed by WGL.

As part of the process WGL developed within the Level 2 scope an online “Instructed Person” module to help Hydro Tasmania meet compliance requirements for the Electrical Supply Industry Power System Safety Rules (PSSR) at a significantly lower cost for contractors then had previously been possible.

Benefits

The benefits where immediate. Hydro Tasmania staff where:

• no longer tied to delivering and managing inductions
• no longer dealing with contractor queries
• supported with a comprehensive reporting system
• freed to focus on core business activities and implement continuous needs

Contractors found that:

• The Level 2 Induction could be done anywhere at anytime with a significant number doing the induction out of hours
• Able to meet urgent work requests by arriving at a worksite site ready and fully trained
• Save costs by not having to organise group training inductions during work time

Continuous Improvement

No business process can remain static and must respond to changing circumstances to maximise the benefits to the business.

After 2 years of continuous operation of the induction program and continuous evaluation of customer feedback 4 core areas where identified where the induction programs could be improved to enhance delivery, management and ROI for Hydro Tasmania and an improved online experience for the inductee.

These areas where:

• A changing technological environment with broadband now more common throughout Tasmania
• Changing in the Level 2 requirements of the Hydro Tasmania
• Improved integration of Workplace Foundations support materials with the online delivery to better focus the induction and shorten the time of delivery
• Expanding the role of WGL in endorsing and authorising people who had successfully completed the induction.

Partnership

The Hydro Tasmania Level 2 induction program has demonstrated the advantages of a strong partnership between customer and supplier. Both WGL and Hydro Tasmania have benefitted from the close working relationship to help Hydro Tasmania deliver the best possible induction program.