Ditch Witch developed its certified HDD training program as a way to help horizontal directional drill operators get the next generation of drillers ready.

“You can’t take a novice operator and put him out in the middle of an industrial site or even a residential area and him not understand the hazards of what’s underground,” says Greg Wolfe, director of training for Ditch Witch. “Safety is at the core of everything we start with Ditch Witch certified training.”

Trainees will begin in the classroom going through certified modules and will then progress to a simulator and then to a job site. “The training that we’re providing should be able to take a novice operator from zero to 30 miles per hour,” Wolfe says. 

Ditch Witch certified HDD training includes a new simulator that allows a new operator to simulate a live bore on a computer monitor.

“When we leave, they’re a good crew and they have all the basics of being a great crew,” says Mike Anderson, president of Ditch Witch of Central California.