With the recent excitement around the NFL Combine, we’ve been thinking about our own sort of Blood Hound Combine. Now that we’ve completed building our new, state-of-the-art training facility, the Blood Hound Winter Training Camp resembles the off-season at the Colts Training Facility more than ever. 
 
First-Year Blood Hounds
We hesitate to call them rookies. Many of our techs already have experience locating or being around utilities and construction sites. But regardless of previous experience, we put all new employees through our rigorous, 12-week training program, which includes certifications from Staking University, UTA Pulse, and our own Blood Hound curriculum.
 
Trainees also receive practical field training on live jobs under close supervision. And they must pass a comprehensive final exam before graduating from the program. This is all in addition to our required safety training that our techs must complete before they hit the field.
 
On-going Training
Going into their second year, our Hounds delve into more advanced skills like GPS data collection, GPR grid collection, and other specialized skills. While they received training on this in their first year, they often don’t get the opportunity to work on these skills during their first year in the field. We want to make sure that they’ve locked in the skills and knowledge required for our more standard services.
 
During the slower winter months, we provide refresher training on these techniques. Then, in the coming year, we look for opportunities in the field for them to continue developing these skills.
 
Cross-training
Our veteran players don’t just rest on their haunches all winter. They’re hard at working learning the latest locating techniques, often getting to beta-test new technologies from our vendors that many people haven’t even heard about yet.
 
We like our team to be as flexible as possible, so on top of renewing their safety and locating certifications, winter also gives our vets the opportunity to cross-train on our newer, advanced technologies like vacuum excavation, camera inspections, and more specialized certifications like NASSCO. And, even if they aren’t fully trained to provide these services, we make sure all of our techs know what’s capable with them. So if they’re out in the field and they see that a client would be better served calling out a vac truck, they can help our clients make that call.
 
Our goal in training is to set the new industry-standard for locating and safety, and to make sure every Blood Hound technician, whether first-year or veteran, can safely and confidently locate whatever may be on your jobsite. We want to be the best, and we work hard at that. Because ultimately, the better trained our people are, the safer your people and your jobs are.
 
Want to see our new, state-of-the-art campus and training facilities?

We're throwing a party on March 26th, complete with BBQ, an open bar, Colts cheerleaders, the Lombardi Trophy, and the chance to win tickets to the Final Four and Indianapolis Colts games! Click here to let us know you're coming!