How To Use This

  1. Each card is one task. Read it, run it, initial it. Turn the page.
  2. "HE DOES IT" means he does it — you watch. Don't initial because he said he's done it before.
  3. A card with no initials didn't happen.
  4. This book is not a day. It's a ladder. An experienced hire might clear ten cards in a shift. A laborer coming up might take three weeks. Both are fine. What's not fine is skipping a card because somebody's in a hurry.

Who Trains Him

Every rig belongs to one operator. Only that man trains anybody on it, and only he signs this book.

If he's on a job, training moves to a day he and the rig are both available. It does not get handed to whoever's in the yard.

Rig: Unit #: Trainer (the rig's operator):
Trainee: Book started:

The Three Statuses

Cards 1–4

RESTRICTED

Be on the rig only with the trainer in eyeshot. Cannot start it, move it, or leave it running.

Earned how: Cards 1–4 signed
Cards 1–17

CHECKED OUT

Run the rig with the trainer on site, watching.

Earned how: Cards 1–17 signed
Card 19

QUALIFIED

Run the rig on assignment.

Earned how: Card 19 — three complete bores on three separate days, signed by the trainer and the Supervisor
Nobody skips to Qualified on résumé. If he's as good as he says, he'll be through this book in a week and it cost us nothing to check.

Part A — Before He Touches The Rig

45 minutes · ENGINE OFF and it stays off

WALK-AROUND AND KILL POINTS

CARD 1
You need: the rig, parked and shut down.
  1. Walk him around the whole machine. Point at and name every place it can hurt somebody — the rod box, the vise and breakout, the carriage travel path, the anchor system, pinch points, anything that moves when you don't expect it.
  2. He puts his hand on the emergency stop. Then he finds the second one. Then the remote shutdown if this rig has one.
  3. You say how you kill this machine in three seconds. He says it back.
  4. Show him where the fire extinguisher is on this rig.
  5. The rod box is the one that gets people. Nobody puts a hand in the rod area with the machine running. Ever, for any reason, no matter how quick.
  6. PPE on this rig: hard hat, glasses, gloves, vest, boots — plus dielectric gloves within reach.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he can point at four things that could hurt him and shut the machine down without hunting for the button.
☐ Card doneInitials Date
45 minutes · THE CARD THAT SAVES HIS LIFE. Never skip it, never rush it.

THE STRIKE SYSTEM

CARD 2
Everything else in this book is about money. This card is about him going home.
You need: ground rod, strike alert system, insulating mat, dielectric gloves.
  1. Explain plainly: when the drill head touches an energized line, the whole rig becomes energized. So does the ground around it. A man can be killed standing next to the machine without touching anything.
  2. Show him the strike alert / electrical strike system on this rig. How it's armed, what it sounds like, what it looks like.
  3. The ground rod — where it goes, how deep, why it's driven every single setup and not "when we're near power."
  4. The insulating mat — the operator stands on it. Every bore.
  5. Dielectric gloves — who wears them, when, and how you check them before use.
  6. Tell him the rule out loud: "If the alarm goes off, you do not step off this machine." Card 16 is the full procedure and you'll run it with him before he ever drills.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: ground rod driven by him, mat placed by him, and he can say what happens to the machine and the ground when the head touches a power line.
☐ HE SET THE GROUND ROD AND MATInitials Date
45 minutes

DAILY CHECKS

CARD 3
You need: the rig, the grease gun, the hour meter.
  1. HE DOES IT — the full daily check, out loud, you watching:
    • Engine oil, hydraulic oil, coolant, fuel
    • Leaks, damaged hoses, loose fittings
    • Tracks, guards, all safety devices in place
    • Rod inspection — bent, worn, cracked shoulders, bad threads. Show him a bad rod next to a good one
    • Vise jaws and breakout — condition and wear
    • Anchor system
    • Drill fluid pump, hoses, and mixer
    • Grease per the schedule
    • Log the hours
  2. Write the hour meter reading on this card:
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he ran the whole check himself without being prompted through the list, and he can pick the bad rod out of a pile.
☐ HE DID THE FULL CHECKInitials Date
20 minutes

WHAT RED-TAGS THIS RIG

CARD 4
Trainer fills this in once, then it's the standard for this machine forever.
The 4 things that mean this rig does not run today:
1. 2. 3. 4.
Tell him: "Running a red-tagged machine is a firing offense. And if you think it's unsafe, you can red-tag it yourself. Nobody will give you a hard time for that, ever."
DONE LOOKS LIKE: the four are written down, and he knows he has the authority to stop the machine.
☐ Card done — status now RESTRICTEDInitials Date

Part B — Setting Up

60 minutes

SITE SETUP AND RIG PLACEMENT

CARD 5
  1. Read the work order together. What are we installing, how long, what depth, and what we get paid on.
  2. Walk the whole bore path with him, end to end, before anything comes off the trailer.
  3. Where the rig sits: entry pit location, level ground, room for the rod trailer, clear escape path for everybody on the ground.
  4. Anchoring and staking — this rig's method, done right, every time.
  5. Entry angle for this job: degrees. (Trainer sets it. Explain why it's that number for this bore.)
  6. Exit pit, spoil containment, and where the mud is going.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he walked the path himself and can tell you where the rig goes and why.
☐ Card doneInitials Date
30 minutes

THE SAFETY ZONE AROUND A DRILL

CARD 6
  1. Cones and signs out before any tool comes off the truck. Same as every crew.
  2. What's different on a drill: the exit pit is its own hazard, the rod trailer is its own hazard, and the public will walk right up to a running machine if you let them.
  3. HE DOES IT — sets the full zone, including the exit pit, spacing checked.
  4. Who's allowed inside the zone and who isn't.
  5. Name the one caller for this site out loud.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: complete zone he set alone, exit pit protected.
☐ HE SET THE ZONEInitials Date
60 minutes · this is where strikes get prevented, not at the controls

CLEAR THE PATH

CARD 7
You need: the locate ticket, a shovel, a probe.
  1. Walk the ticket against the marks. Every utility on the ticket painted on the ground? Anything faded, missing, or not matching? If it doesn't match, we don't push.
  2. Every crossing gets potholed and looked at with eyes before the head goes near it. Not "we'll watch the depth." Exposed and visual.
  3. Cross-bore check — say this out loud: "Sewer laterals don't get located and they don't get marked. Every house on this street has one running from the house to the main, and it is not on any ticket." Walk the line of houses with him and have him point at where each lateral probably runs.
  4. Mark up the bore plan: where he must be deeper, where he must slow down, where he stops and re-checks.
  5. Anything unclear → stop and call. Tell him plainly: "Nobody has ever been in trouble here for stopping a bore. People have been fired for not stopping one."
DONE LOOKS LIKE: every crossing potholed and visible, and he can point at where the sewer laterals are without being told.
☐ HE POTHOLED THE CROSSINGSInitials Date

Part C — Running The Bore

60 minutes · the two of them are one machine

WORKING WITH THE LOCATOR

CARD 8
  1. The locator's job: walking the head, reading depth, pitch, and clock position, and telling the operator what's under him.
  2. Agree on the words before the first rod. Same language every time — how he calls a clock position, how he calls depth, what "hold" means, what "stop" means.
  3. The rule: no locate, no push. If the locator loses the head — interference, dead battery, whatever — the rod stops. Not "one more push while you sort it out."
  4. Hand signals for when it's loud, and what to do if the radio dies.
  5. HE DOES IT — runs the locator himself for a few rods so he knows what the man in the field is actually looking at. An operator who's never held the locator makes a bad partner.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: they've agreed on the exact words, and he has held the locator himself.
☐ HE RAN THE LOCATORInitials Date
Trainer at the controls first, then him — trainer standing right there

ENTRY AND THE FIRST RODS

CARD 9
  1. You drill the first rods, narrating everything you're doing and why.
  2. Then HE DOES IT — with you at his shoulder, hand ready. Entry angle, thrust, rotation, fluid on before the head moves.
  3. Feel: what the machine tells you through the controls. Hard ground, soft ground, cobble, a rock.
  4. He does not touch the rod box. Rod handling stays with you until Card 19.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he set the entry angle and pushed the first rods with you watching.
☐ HE DRILLED THE ENTRYInitials Date
Runs across several bores — sign it when he's got it

STEERING AND STAYING ON PLAN

CARD 10
  1. Clock positions and how a small correction now beats a big one later.
  2. Reading depth and pitch against the plan, rod by rod.
  3. Bore log entries as he goes, not from memory at the end. Card 18.
  4. What "off plan" looks like early, and what he does about it — which is tell somebody, not fix it quietly.
  5. Minimum depth and minimum separation on this job:
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he steered a bore that came out where it was supposed to, and the log matches what actually happened.
☐ Card doneInitials Date
Do this card at an actual crossing, standing over the potholed hole

CROSSINGS

CARD 11
  1. Before the head reaches an exposed utility: slow down, confirm with the locator, and have eyes on the hole.
  2. Somebody watches the potholed hole while the head passes. Every time.
  3. Nobody in the hole while the head is moving.
  4. Ask him standing right there: "What do you do if you feel it touch something?" — the answer is stop, don't back out, don't push through, call.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he passed a live crossing with a spotter on the hole and never guessed at a depth.
☐ HE RAN A CROSSINGInitials Date
60 minutes

DRILLING FLUID AND RETURNS

CARD 12
  1. What the fluid actually does: carries cuttings out, cools and lubricates, holds the hole open. It's not water and it's not optional.
  2. Mixing for this ground — mix ratio for today's soil: (trainer sets it)
  3. Fluid on before the head moves. Every time.
  4. Returns — what good returns look like coming back at the entry pit, and what it means when they stop.
  5. Pump pressure — what normal is on this rig, and what a spike is telling him.
  6. Spoil containment and clean-up. We don't leave mud in the street and we don't wash it into a storm drain.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he mixed the fluid himself and can tell you what losing returns means.
☐ HE MIXED AND RAN FLUIDInitials Date
30 minutes

FRAC-OUT

CARD 13
What it is: drilling fluid finds a path to the surface and comes up where it shouldn't — a yard, a street, a creek, a basement.
  1. How to spot it early: pressure change, returns stop, and somebody has to be looking at the ground above the head.
  2. The moment you see it: stop drilling. Don't push through it.
  3. Contain it — straws, berm, shovels. Never let it reach a storm drain, a creek, or a wetland. That's the difference between a mess and a fine.
  4. Call the Supervisor immediately. Photograph it before, during, and after clean-up.
  5. Clean it up completely before the crew leaves.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he can describe the three signs of a frac-out and knows to stop before he calls anybody.
☐ Card doneInitials Date

Part D — Pullback

Full cycle, trainer at his shoulder

REAMING AND PULLBACK

CARD 14
  1. Reamer selection for this ground and this product size — and why upsizing in steps beats one big pass.
  2. Swivel, and why it matters that the product doesn't spin.
  3. Rigging the product: pull head, breakaway, protecting the conduit or pipe as it goes in.
  4. Pull pressure is a conversation, not a number to beat. A spike means stop and find out why — it does not mean pull harder.
  5. Fluid stays on the whole pullback.
  6. HE DOES IT — a full pullback with you standing there.
  7. Somebody is watching the product side the whole time. Nobody stands in line with a loaded pull.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: product in, undamaged, and he stopped to think at least once instead of pulling through something.
☐ HE RAN A PULLBACKInitials Date

Part E — When It Goes Wrong

45 minutes · sitting down, before it ever happens

LOST RETURNS AND STUCK RODS

CARD 15
Lost returns:
  1. Stop. Don't keep pushing — that's how you turn a problem into a frac-out or a stuck string.
  2. Check the pump, check the mix, check for a surface break above the head.
  3. Call it in before you try to drill out of it.
Stuck rod / stuck string:
  1. Stop. Do not crank torque up to free it. That's how rods snap and how people get hurt.
  2. Nobody stands in line with a loaded string. Stored energy in a stuck drill string will hurt somebody.
  3. Call the Supervisor. This is a decision above his pay grade on day one and that's fine.
Say it plainly: "Every expensive mistake on a drill starts with somebody deciding to push through it instead of stopping to ask."
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he can say what he does in the first 30 seconds of both, and the answer starts with "stop."
☐ Card doneInitials Date
60 minutes · run this card BEFORE he ever drills. Then run it again.

YOU HIT SOMETHING

CARD 16
If you hit ANYTHING — stop. Don't back out. Don't push through. Call.
IF IT'S ELECTRIC — this is the one that kills people
The strike alarm goes off, or the machine arcs, or somebody feels a tingle:
  1. OPERATOR: STAY ON THE MACHINE. Do not step off. Do not touch the machine and the ground at the same time. You are safe where you are — you become the circuit the moment you bridge them.
  2. EVERYONE ELSE: GET AWAY — at least 35 feet. The ground itself is energized. Shuffle with your feet together or hop with both feet together. Do not take normal steps.
  3. Nobody approaches the machine. Nobody touches the operator. If somebody is down and in contact with the rig, you cannot help them by touching them — you'll be the second casualty. Keep everyone back and wait for the utility.
  4. Call 911. Then the Supervisor. Then the utility.
  5. The only reason to leave the machine is fire. If you must: jump clear so you're never touching machine and ground at once, land with both feet together, then hop or shuffle away. Never step down.
  6. Nobody touches that rig until the utility confirms the line is dead. Not to move it. Not to load it.
If it's gas
Everybody upwind and uphill. No engines, no phones, no truck doors near the hole. 911 first, then Supervisor, then 811.
If it's fiber, water, sewer, or anything else
Stop. Secure the area. Call the Supervisor immediately.
And the part that has to be said out loud, word for word:
"Hitting a line is a Tuesday. It happens to good operators doing everything right, and you will not be fired for it. Covering it up or not reporting it is the end of your career here, same day."
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he can recite the electrical procedure in order, unprompted, standing at the rig. Make him do it twice.
☐ HE RECITED IT — twiceInitials Date
30 minutes · the one that comes back years later

CROSS-BORE

CARD 17
What it is: the bore goes straight through a sewer lateral. Nothing looks wrong. The line goes in, the job passes, everybody goes home. Two years later a plumber runs a cutter down that sewer and cuts into a live gas line inside somebody's house.
  1. Sewer laterals are not located and not marked. They run from every house to the main and they are on no ticket anywhere.
  2. Where they run, how deep they usually are, and how to plan a bore around them.
  3. If there's any chance we crossed a lateral, it gets inspected with a camera before we leave the street. Not next week.
  4. Any resistance or odd feel where a lateral should be — stop and check.
  5. Tell him: "This is the one mistake on this list that can hurt somebody who was never on our job site. That's why we don't guess about it."
DONE LOOKS LIKE: he can walk a street and point at where every lateral runs, and he knows when a camera goes down the line.
☐ Card doneInitials Date

Part F — Proof And Sign-Off

45 minutes · this is the card that protects our money

THE BORE LOG AND GETTING PAID

CARD 18
  1. "If it isn't in the log, the photos, and the DFR, it didn't happen — and we don't get paid for it."
  2. Walk the bore log field by field. It gets filled in as he drills, rod by rod — not reconstructed at the truck at 4 PM.
  3. Falsifying a bore log is a same-day firing. Say it out loud. He will be tempted at some point to write down what should have happened instead of what did — this is where you head that off.
  4. Footage: how we count it, and how it becomes an invoice.
  5. Photo set — before, during, after — plus every potholed crossing photographed exposed, before it's backfilled. Those photos are what save us in a damage claim.
  6. HE DOES IT — fills out a complete bore log and photo set on a real bore. You check it against what actually happened.
DONE LOOKS LIKE: a bore log filled in as he went that matches the ground, and a complete photo set.
☐ HE LOGGED A REAL BOREInitials Date
Three complete bores. Three separate days. No shortcuts.

SIGN-OFF

CARD 19

He runs the whole job — setup, bore, pullback, clean-up, paperwork — with the trainer on site watching but not helping.

BoreDateJob / locationFootageAnything to noteTrainer initials
1
2
3
STATUS — circle oneRESTRICTED · CHECKED OUT · QUALIFIED
QUALIFIED means he runs this rig on assignment, alone. It requires both signatures.
Anything he still isn't strong on:
Trainer (rig's operator): Supervisor:
Trainee signature — "I understand I may only operate to the status above": Date:
Add to the Fleet Register: is now Qualified on , dated

Where This Book Starts

Who he isStart at
Experienced HDD operator, new to NovaCard 1. All of it. He may move fast — Cards 1, 2, 4, 7, 16, 17 are still mandatory at full length because they're how we do it, not how the machine works
Nova laborer moving upCard 1, and he should already have the general laborer book signed
Locator moving to the drill seatCard 1, but Card 8 is quick — he already speaks the language from the other end

When Something Goes Wrong During Training

You don't need to call Adam for any of these.
What happenedWhat you do
Rig goes down mid-bookTraining pauses. It does not move to a different rig — this book is for this unit
Trainer gets pulled to a jobTraining moves. Nobody else signs this book
He wants to skip ahead because of experienceCards 1, 2, 4, 7, 16, 17 are never skipped. The rest can move fast
Somebody wants him to run solo before Card 19No. Checked Out means the trainer is on site. Overruled by anybody — straight to the Supervisor
He red-tags the machine and somebody disagreesThe red tag stands until the Supervisor looks at it. That's the whole point of giving him the authority
He freezes on a boreNormal. Take the controls, finish the rod, talk about it after. Don't correct him in front of the crew
He hides a mistake during trainingThat's Card 16 territory. Stop the training day and get the Supervisor. This is the trait we cannot train out later

Stop Everything And Call Adam Now

1. Any injury worse than a band-aid
2. Any utility strike — including a nick, including "it was already damaged"
3. Any frac-out that reached a storm drain, creek, or building
4. Anybody under the influence
5. Anything that's going to end up on somebody's phone

Trainer: before you run this book the first time, fill in the blanks that are machine-specific and job-specific — Card 4 (what red-tags this rig), Card 5 (entry angle), Card 10 (minimum depth and separation), Card 12 (mix ratio). Those are your numbers, not something a book can tell you.

Nova Underground · HDD Operator Training Book v1 · pairs with the Day 1 and Day 2 book for new hires
Cited by: NU-QAL-601-A C8 HDD OPERATOR (through Card 19) · Editable source: TRAINING BOOK - HDD Operator.md · Uncontrolled when printed.
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