CGLLEN Website

Thursday 12 June 2003 saw 60, year 10, Marian College students participating in an Industry Awareness Day. The focus of the day was to provide students with a basis in Occupational Health & Safety, prior to their first school arranged Work Experience Program.

The day was arranged by Mr Gerard Kelly, VET teacher at Marian College and the Central Grampians LLEN. Mr Jeff Rootes of the Department of Education and Training also attended the day, providing assistance to both CGLLEN and Mr Kelly.

First off for the day, students were presented with an insight into work place safety by Jason Bell, CFMEU (Union) Representative and Occupational Health & Safety representative working on the East Grampians Health Service extension. Jason travels to a number of different worksites, which has taken him from jobs at Crown Casino and Federation Square in Melbourne, to the hospital site in Ararat. Jason gave a comprehensive presentation covering his previous experiences, work safety on construction sites; how he and his team conduct daily safety inspections, hold weekly site meetings and who he relies on to ensure the environment is safe and secure for workers and visitors alike. He also provided the students with a number of stories from his personal experiences, losing friends on jobs; having to attend sites where injuries or deaths occur and what should have been done by way of prevention. Jason also spoke on the benefits of being a qualified tradesman, providing a great deal of interest to the students.

Unexpectedly, Jason also offered to open the worksite up to any students who were interested in going through the extension.

After recess, Mr Chris Walshott of WorkSafe Victoria gave the students a presentation of what they should expect on their first day at work, what employers should be doing to ensure their safety and what rights they, as workers, have within their employment.

Students from the group kindly gave each presenter a gift of thanks and a short speech in appreciation.

A lunch of pizza’s, provided by Sicilian’s Café in Ararat, was devoured by the students and teachers enjoyed a slice or two in the warmth of their staff room.

The afternoon gave the students an opportunity to visit work places within Ararat. Small groups of 8 – 10 were taken to: David Reid Motors, Ararat Rural City Council, Ararat Joinery, AF Gason Pty Ltd, AME Systems, East Grampians Health Service – hospital and East Grampians Health Service – extension site.

Jeff Rootes and Rhian Davidson attended the work site of the new hospital. Jason and Adam took the group through a comprehensive tour of the entire site, showing students where fire sprinklers were, what each pipe and cords were for, where special “fire walls” had been erected and procedures within the site to ensure the workers safety.

The students were shown where all electricity was connected and the safety involved with each power board through to the points. Whilst on the walk through, an electrician was wiring the entire extension board. He kindly showed the students how the board worked and in the event of a power failure, where the generator would “kick in” and keep emergency power through the hospital.

We were also shown each room and told of its purpose, and whilst walking around the site, introduced to each of the workers. The students gratefully put a name to the worker who had given them their safety vest and hard-hat, and identified with “nick names” written on each garment.

The students appeared to thoroughly enjoy the tour, especially when Jason asked the group to identify any areas they thought were unsafe, they then got to tell the worker they were in an unsafe environment and how they could rectify that problem, which both the workers and students laughingly enjoyed. A great deal of effort was put into the tour, and also the earlier presentation by Jason & Adam, and their efforts were greatly appreciated.

The Marian College Industry Awareness Day was an enjoyable day thanks to the efforts of Mr Kelly and the respect shown by year 10 students.