Industrial & Engineering Technology: Operating Engineer
Industrial & Engineering Technology
Keeley Bontog: Operating Engineer
By Mike Yoshiura • Photos by Scott T. Kubo
Most young girls grow up admiring their mothers. But Keeley Bontog was born with her dad’s gear-head genes. And, as daddy’s girl, she had an inherent inquisitiveness for tools, cars, trucks and everything in between.
Keeley’s dad is a senior truck driver with more than 20 years in the construction industry. She recalls at age 10 tagging along with him to job sites, washing his semi truck and playing with his tool set while he worked. As Keeley got older and more mechanically inclined, dad and daughter started to take on projects together.
“I learned everything there is to know about tools from my father. We worked on so many cars together,” Keeley says. “He had too many cars to keep track of. We built engines, swapped out motors and transmissions, you name it!”
These memorable moments with her father convinced Keeley to pursue a career as an operating engineer in the construction industry.
In 2004, Keeley joined the Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Program, which is the first step to joining the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3. The program is held at the Kahuku Training Center, and it consists of 440 hours in the classroom and 6,000 hours of field training. The training for a construction equipment operator usually takes about three years to complete.
The first thing an aspiring journeyman learns at the training center is safety procedures coupled with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and requirements. For any tradesperson, safety is the key. Operators have the opportunity to earn certifications in hazardous waste material, emergency response, disaster site worker certification, Construction Safety OSHA 500/501 and first aid and CPR. “Everyday I have to follow the proper procedures to ensure that I go home in one piece,” she says.
To protect themselves from work hazards, operators must wear steel-toe boots, jeans, long sleeve shirts, hard hats, safety glasses, earplugs and dust masks. Keeley has to braid her waist-long hair and tuck it in under her hard hat to keep it from getting caught in any moving parts. Except for the occasional stray strand of hair, she doesn’t let gender set her back. “I learned how to operate all kinds of machines at the apprenticeship’s training center. I was given the preparation and training I needed,” she says.
Her training included learning how to work with equipment such as bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors and front-end loaders. The equipment is used to excavate, move, grade earth, erect structures and pour concrete.
Keeley completed her apprenticeship requirements three months ago, and today she is doing her part to create new military communities at Catlin Park. For Keeley, it’s rewarding to be in a career where others can enjoy the fruits of her labor for many decades to come. She encourages all girls, saying, “don’t be afraid, do what makes you happy. I would suggest that if you want to do this type of work, go for it!”