UG Training
Day Release Training (DRT) continues to offer challenges to all team members with Round 3 concluding end of June. Thank-you to Oaky No. 1 Mine for hosting the round and I’m sure all team members have valued the experience training and using the facilities at Oaky No. 1 probably for the last time as production comes to an end there in 2017. Round 4 is scheduled to commence at Blackwater station Saturday 1st July with Atmospheric and Environmental monitoring on the agenda. For those in the Dysart region, Round 4 training will commence Saturday 5th August covering the same topics.
Congratulations to all the teams who competed at the QMRS Cup and for most you will now be looking forward to the EK Healy being hosted at the Dysart Rescue Station. Competitions are a great way for us as an organisation to test and audit our training system. The Training teams aim is to close the gap between the competition team members and the team members that report for training every two months. In order to do this, the UG Training portfolio has been working closely with the competition group to identify these gaps and put in place plans for improvement and focus.
One of our main aims is to improve the way team members are monitoring the atmosphere and making assessments with the data collected. The expectation will be when next at training, come with an open mind ready to question, challenge and engage the Trainer facilitating your session on all things Gas Monitoring.
Dysart station hosted the second round of recruit courses for 2017. We welcome those new team members and I’m sure that you will enjoy a long and productive career in Mines Rescue. For those returning to their crews, you will now have the added responsibility and or expectation that you will play a key role in the crew should any emergency situation arise.
Your crew mates will look to you for assistance, leadership and courage which are all core skills and attributes gained and built on during your 3 weeks at the station. First Aid skills can never be underestimated and the assumption from your crew mates will be that as a Rescue Team Member you’re the go to person. This ties in nicely with QMRS now formalising the requirement to have and maintain your First Aid Competencies following a review of the training system so that all people attending the recruit course must have a current FA certificate to attend.
So dust of your First Aid Certificate and make sure it’s in date and your CPR is refreshed. These will not only help your mines rescue training but are great life skills to maintain and offer assistance to your loved ones and the community.
During the last course we visited Grasstree and Grosvenor Mines respectively which gave the recruits a great opportunity to practice their core skills in the real environment. Simulations at the stations are great for most skills but there are some competencies that are best practiced and trained in the mine environment. Thank you to these two mines and the site Management for granting us access and allowing us to train on site. We continue to have experienced Team Members come and assist with the recruits and I thank those who attended and offered advice and displayed all the key attributes that we expect from our Team Members.
Health & Safety
The health focus for 2017 is about our general health and well-being. So at the time of reading, all staff would have had access to some great Webinars including the following topics such as the energy boost program titled “Sleep like a baby” that provides information on all things fatigue, “Pay it Forward” all about the power of positivity and of course some activity based programs ranging from Boot Camp groups through to stretching and the exercise physiologist’s view on why this is great for our overall health.
OHS around the stations continues to remain a focus and we are currently back into our Drug and Alcohol modules and reporting fit for work each day. This is an education based approach and staff have been encouraged to engage with the Safety Management System at QMRS by completing an online module in the learning management system. When you arrive at Training, be prepared to be challenged on these requirements as they closely align to our code of conduct which applies to all of us as representatives of QMRS.
I hope that the training has been effective and valuable so far for 2017 and we look forward to receiving feedback from you on the training, facilities and technology at QMRS so that we can continue to improve the experience for all concerned.
Until next time
Yours in Health, Safety and Training