Work Readiness, shaping our future for a strong and productive workforce
26 March 2009
The Mining Industry Skills Centre has formed a collaboration with key industry and government players in order to provide 11 students from North Queensland with the opportunity to participate in the Skills Centre’s Work Readiness Program.
The latest pilot of the program is being run by Goldings Contractors, The Salvation Army Employment Plus and New Horizons Safety and Training in the Emerald and the surrounding areas in order to encourage development of the next generation of workers, and to improve and sustain the economic growth for local communities.
The Program received a great deal of interest within the Emerald area and successful students had to go through an initial selection process in order to identify the “best fit” for the accelerated program and its intended outcome.
The final 11 participants, comprising of eight indigenous students (three of which were females) are currently working through a number of competencies that involve classroom–based training, on –site training and assessment, and also includes a range of simulation–based training, First Aid training/Defensive Driver training/mine site engagement.
The students will graduate on Monday 6th April and past programs have shown a very high success rate for securing graduate students in full time work within the industry.
The Mining Industry Skills Centre’s CEO Mr Derek Hunter said that the Work Readiness Program was developed in response to industry’s request for a robust entry–level course for inexperienced, non–industry employees.
“It is in these turbulent and uncertain times that we need to focus on our strategic planning and the effective allocation of training resources. Now is the time to be shaping our future so that there will be enough skilled workers available to ensure that we have a strong and productive mining workforce for the future,” Mr Hunter said.
New Horizons Safety and Training Business Manager Ms. Dalys Marquis said that the students were very grateful for this opportunity to be part of such unique program.
“These students are working hard and showing their dedication to the program. Whether it is in the classroom, using the simulators or on site they have to always be switched on and focused,” Ms. Marquis said.
The Skills Centre’s Work Readiness Program allow students the opportunity for an accelerated pathway into productive work within the resource industry. The Program was developed in association with the Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations (DEEWR) in order to help combat the workforce planning issues in the resources sector by providing the industry with 80% site–ready participants after 5 weeks of training.
The success of the Mining Industry’s Work Readiness Program is due to the ongoing support and collaboration of The Salvation Army Employment Plus, Department of Employment & Industrial Relations, Department of Education Employment & Workplace Relations, Department of Education Training and the Arts, New Horizons Safety and Training Services, and of course Golding Contractors.
The Mining Industry Skills Centre has been established as a centre of excellence for the development and implementation of training initiatives in the Queensland mining industry for many years.
The team here at the Skills Centre is looking forward to collaborating with more industry organisations to implement the Work Readiness Program around Australia and assist in creating a strong workforce for the future of the Australian resources industry.