Geraldton Emergency Response and Safety Training Centre Brings Skills and Savings to Mid West Australia
18 January 2010
In March 2009 one of the largest new mining projects in the Mid West Australian region, the $1.8 billion Karara Iron Ore Project, joined forces with the Central West TAFE for the official launch of an innovative new partnership for the delivery of education, vocational training and skills in Geraldton.
Central to this was the opening of a new facility, the Geraldton Emergency Response and Safety Training Complex established by leading Australian training provider and emergency services support group Hostile Environment Services (HES).
Hostile Environment Services is currently ranked as Australia's largest private rescue ambulance fleet operator and is a major provider of training, medical and emergency services support to the resources sector. The group was approached by Gindalbie in late 2008 to consider entering into a MOU with Central West TAFE for the provision of specialist training courses such as emergency response and rescue.
These highly specialised courses are now available locally to people in the Mid West Australia region, which means organisations no longer have to send their staff to Perth for access to this kind of expertise and can save on travel and accommodation expenses as well as unproductive man-hours. With local organisations able to save costs on specialised safety training, more money can be injected into other areas of the local economy bringing even more benefits to the Mid West.
At the Geraldton complex Hostile Environment Services offers courses to local business clients, including:
- Working in confined spaces
- The breathing apparatus
- Gas testing
- Safe working at heights
- Senior first aid
- Accident investigation
- A full suite of mines rescue qualifications
Training to save lives on mine sites
In December 2009 Hostile Environment Services ran courses in breathing apparatus and confined space entry and rescue at the Geraldton complex for employees of a large facilities manager. This specialised course taught participants how to check and operate typical breathing apparatus and then undertake the rescue of a colleague who is caught in a confined space during an emergency.
This training scenario represents a potential situation faced by mine sites and many other workplaces in the Mid West of Australia. The skills learnt in this course are important for any staff who work on site and in or around confined spaces and can often mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation. The course gives participants the skills and confidence to effectively handle a dangerous situation in a calm and collected manner and potentially save lives.
"We are very proud to have played a role in bringing this training expertise to the Mid West," says HES operations director Jonathon Silbert. "For us it was about finding a way to assist the local industry with their safety training needs and we believe we have started to realise this goal with the success of the training complex."
Training manager Chris Baker says: "2009 has been another successful year for us, which I believe is due to a combination of the tremendous dedication and hard work displayed by our staff and a commitment to building strong working relationships with the team at Central West TAFE."
HES has received extensive recognition from organisations within Australia and overseas, including consecutive Gold Safety Awards from the Industrial Foundation for Accident Prevention (IFAP) for their safety management system and operational performance and a special commendation in recognition for operating for eight years without a lost time injury.
