MetroNet’s Training Facility Creates a Hightened Culture of Safety

Safety is integral to how we do our job of providing fast, reliable fiber optic internet, phone and television to our customers every single day at MetroNet. We’re revolutionizing the way we do business and we want to invite other telecommunications companies to share in this vision as we grow.

MetroNet has a training facility set up in one of our largest markets, and it is available to employees, contractors and locators. The training facility program includes poles going through trees and vaults in the ground with conduit. The concept is to invite all contractors, locators and others to utilize the training facilities for damage prevention purposes. It is a great representation of an actual fiber distribution system. For training purposes, it provides opportunities to see exactly how it should be built and examples of common mistakes to avoid. Our goal is for the participants to get hands-on, real-life experience in a safe and guided environment.

The goal of the training facility is to be able to increase safety across our network and reduce damages. We utilize our Lexington Training Facility to train our MetroNet Associates so they know how to safely build construction in neighborhoods. Third-party locators use this facility to learn how to respond to problems and complications that could arise during a build. We train our associates, contractors and locators to know the appropriate way to construct our fiber optic internet network as safely and efficiently as possible.

In order to serve our customers and ensure we’re upholding the highest industry standards, our contractors and associates are required to use the training facility. We do not require locators to attend mandatory trainings at our facility, but the facility is open for their use should they choose to.

We’re currently working to expand our training facility footprint as we construct a new facility in Tallahassee. It’s set to be completed this coming summer.

We believe that the training facility provides the opportunity to make mistakes and to learn from them in a safe environment and in doing so, brings awareness to damage prevention and how to avoid making mistakes. The facility has been in full operation for over a year. As we continue to innovate and expand our safety network, we look forward to sharing the impact it has on safety operations in our communities.

We have extended an invitation to locators in the industry to use the training facility to help train their personnel, and we’ve seen numerous contractors and some locators utilize the facility as well. As we grow and expand our safety footprint, we believe we will see more people from the industry using it. We also welcome our competitors to use our training facility so we can all deliver the highest safety procedures to all customers.

From our company’s inception, safety has always been a top priority. We take it very seriously and we are constantly working to improve, learn and create new ways to become leaders in the safety industry. As our company continues its growth, so will our safety protocol. We are excited to see what the future holds and look forward to the innovation and expansion that is sure to come.

Dr. George Kemp is Vice President of Safety & Quality Assurance at MetroNet Inc. He serves as the Chair of the 811 Damage Prevention Committee in Indiana, where he represents the telecommunications sector.