In This Issue…

TAFELINK Issue No. 13 | April 2009

Feature story

Other news

What's new

Events

Course profile

Feature story

TAFE NSW helps OneSteel forge training plan

TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute tailored a smart training program for employees at OneSteel’s Rooty Hill recycling steel mill and worked around the clock to ensure a perfect fit.

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Other news

Franklins sold on special service

Discount supermarket chain Franklins approached TAFE NSW – Sydney Institute to develop training programs across the organisation. The results represent great value.

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Practical program builds local skills

TAFE NSW – Western Institute designed a course to give students in the remote rural town of Walgett the skills that local employers are looking for.

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Partnership rises to the training challenge

TAFE NSW – New England Institute joined with local bakers to cook up an apprenticeship training program that keeps young workers at the coalface and upgrades their skills.

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What’s new

Equipment donation ensures state-of-the-art training

Sandvik and Xstrata have donated more than $650,000 worth of equipment to TAFE NSW – Hunter Institute to help train local apprentices.

In a recent equipment handover, Sandvik donated 2 Eimco 913 LHD Underground Mine Loaders, and Xstrata donated 2 Komatsu D375C-3 Bulldozers, 1 Caterpillar D9N Bulldozer, and a Caterpillar 950 Articulated Wheel Loader.

Phil Cox, Director, Hunter Institute, said the machines will help the Institute continue to provide state-of-the-art-facilities, and will assist graduates in learning the most up-to-date techniques used in the mining industry.

E-learning to upskill Council’s construction supervisors

Seventeen supervisory staff from Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Works team are benefiting from e-learning technology as they begin studying the Certificate IV in Civil Construction class via teleconference.

As frontline supervisors, they are the first group to study through a pilot program developed by TAFE NSW – Riverina Institute in partnership with Council that will be delivered using the latest computer and web-based e-learning methods.

General Manager, Paul Anderson, said the program demonstrates Council’s leadership in the development of training programs for its outdoor staff.

‘It is the only one of its kind being run by a local government council and will provide construction supervisors with a career path and address skills shortages,’ Mr Anderson said.

Events

Skills Recognition 2009
Building human capital in challenging times

25 and 26 May 2009
Australian Technology Park, Sydney

The Skills Recognition Conference will:

• identify how skills and training can help address the big workforce challenges of the coming decades
• demonstrate practical examples of how businesses have reduced training costs through the recognition of the existing skills of their workforce
• showcase to industry and registered training providers the results of over 60 Skills Recognition projects undertaken in NSW since 2006; and demonstrate a range of training resources developed for use across key industry areas.

The Conference aims to promote good practice and the take-up of Skills Recognition for industry and training providers; and the development of maximum flexibility in training for employers and individuals so that workers can have their existing skills recognised and reduce future training time.

Mind the Gen Gap... Working Together to Meet Workforce Challenges

9.00am – 4.30pm
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Dockside Convention Centre, Darling Harbour

The Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (CSHISC) is hosting a forum which will explore the issues associated with working within a cross-generational team environment (veterans, baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Y). This forum invites managers and Gen Y employees to come together to explore workforce challenges and to create solutions to improve workforce planning.

At the Mind the Gen Gap Forum, organisations will learn how to create a workplace culture that attracts and retains the Gen Y employee. Participants will:

• discover what the younger generations value and desire, and what motivates them
• identify strategies to include younger generation employees in organisational and workforce planning
• determine what changes their organisation needs to implement to attract younger employees, and how to keep them through improved workplace culture
• discover how to engage Gen Y employees in decisions about purchasing or adopting new technologies.

Course profile

Raising the bar

Cellar Procedures – TAFE PLUS Statement

Whether you are working in a pub or club or managing staff in a similar venue, being up-to-date in cellar procedures is a key way to minimise waste and maximise both worker safety and customer satisfaction.

A TAFE NSW Cellar Procedures course gives participants the hands-on, practical skills and knowledge needed to safely operate a cellar.

Course participants will learn how to operate, service and maintain cellar systems such as draft beer kegs, which in turn can help reduce costs for hotels, pubs and clubs, as proper use and maintenance means less wastage and a higher quality product dispensed to customers.

Designed for those with experience as well as those new to the hospitality industry, this course is essential for anyone who needs to be up-to-speed with recent changes in the industry, including a new Australian Standard relating to the use of gas in cellars.

Around 70 per cent of the coursework covers practical aspects of cellar procedures, with training done in a fully equipped facility on TAFE NSW premises. The occupational health and safety (OH&S) component, which is one of the most important, covers the handling of gas and other dangerous chemicals in a cellar environment.

Relaying skills

Programmable Relays – TAFE PLUS Statement

If you’re a qualified electrician looking to expand your service offering to clients and increase turnover, then this short course in Programmable Relays could be right for you.

The course provides electricians or other suitably qualified people with the knowledge and skills required for the installation, programming and commissioning of programmable relays.

Programmable relays are a cost-effective way for electricians to automate systems around commercial or residential properties, by programming in a sequence of relay contacts, timers and/or counters to control devices such as lights, air-conditioning units and water sprinklers.

Since programmable relays need to be hardwired, practitioners must already be licensed. As such, this course, currently running one night a week over four weeks, is ideal for qualified electricians who wish to add to their skills base and improve their offering to customers.

Topic areas covered in this course include: the introduction of programmable relays; programmable relay principles of operation; and ladder programs.

For more information on TAFE NSW courses, visit www.tafensw.edu.au.

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