Ed McWhorter, General Manager
Babcock & Wilcox
As the Boilermakers union, contractors and owners grapple with how to staff a glut of upcoming projects, the Western States Section is developing a program that centralizes safety and training requirements for all job facilities, taps into the MOST Boilermakers Delivery System and incentivizes Boilermakers to get up-to-speed on certifications and training. The idea: create a web-based app and desktop portal as a one-stop-shop to make it easy for Boilermakers to see what they need to be ready to work anywhere, show business managers the Boilermakers who are ready to go to work and help Boilermakers get the training they need to be job ready.
Formerly known as the Readiness to Work program, the initiative is now called the BEST Program, which stands for Boilermakers, Education and Skills Training.
“The big challenge for all of us as contractors is the same challenge the union has and the same challenge the owner has,” said Ed McWhorter, General Manager, Babcock & Wilcox, who has spearheaded the development of BEST Programs.
He explained how background checks, specialized or unique jobsite training, drug tests and more take time and can slow down putting good Boilermakers to work. The BEST Program poises Boilermakers to be prepared to work any planned outages and turnarounds as well as to respond to emerging work as soon as its available.
Through the system, a Boilermaker will be able to see upcoming jobs and the requirements for those jobs, right from an app on their phone. They select a location, view jobs and choose jobs they’re interested in working. That sets up an automatic screening of their qualifications for the job and sends an email to the business manager, who vets and approves their request to work. Any necessary training is then scheduled for the Boilermaker. After the training is completed and verified, the Boilermaker is provided a stipend via a third-party administrator to cover some training travel costs.
The program is fully customizable and, as McWhorter said, there is no limit to how it can be set up to help those seeking Boilermaker workers and Boilermakers seeking work.
“We’re leading the industry in workforce modernization,” he said. “Let’s charge the hill and change how we’re doing business. This is the first step toward change. We’re piloting it in the West, and I’m confident that if it works it will expand across the country. Standing still is not an option.”
So far, much of the data, access requirements and functional portal (and app development) has been completed. An automated bank stipend and reimbursement process is expected to be completed in September and complete BDS integration is expected in October.
The BEST Program aims to fully release in December 2025.