Back on Campus

It's hard to believe that we've only been back for 3 and a half weeks.

We got back to a totally different working environment, with the office being re-structured and different roles and responsibilities too.

Considering the amount of learning we had been through, it was well expected that things would change. Everyone came back in one piece from the BIT Site Projects and if anything we were more knowledgeable and inspired than ever before. Nevertheless we still had to undergo RISKMAQ part 2, but as always we survived.

We have now been allocated different tasks to suit and match our strong points. This can only mean that our developent as prominent SHEQ Proffessionals is definitely in progress. We were each given tasks which are relatively new to us but with guidance from the right peaople and by utilising all our resources appropriately, we will conquer.

We had our internal communication day on Friday, 18 September and besides it being informative, it also sparked a lot excitement. After learning about all the departments of IRCA and being informed about the new developments, I can certainly affirm that there is no place I'd rather be. We're such a lovely organisation with a bright future and with lots to be excited about.

CIVCON Site

Finally the time came for us to be on site and bring our ideas about health and safety to life!!!

Everything was finalised at the 11th hour and before I knew it, I was packing my bags and heading for Stilfontein. We were welcomed by a short and brief induction where we were informed of all the relevant safety issues on the site and given the stats of the people who had been dismissed due to non-conformances, so that clearly meant that we had to behave if we wanted to remain on site for two whole months!

We were introduced to our fellow IRCA Team members thereafter and received a very warm welcome from them from the onset. We went for site walks and did a run through of the work that has already been completed on the site in terms of the S-T-&-D Process. We are very fortunate to be working on this site as it is the first to implement the S-T-&-D Process and the testing of the new software is also happening here. It's good to know that we're not the only "firsts" on the site.

Our first week was short as we arrived on a Wednesday and left on Thursady due to pay weekend, as a result we didn't get to do much. The past weeks however have been 5 day weeks and we have definitely covered a whole lot more. We attend site safety meetings every monday morning where safety issues are discussed and we also started doing observations with the team. The observations take up most of the day as we have to transfer them to the checklists when we return from site. The site's safety is generally not bad, it's just that people become restless and their perceptions lead them astray. One thing that still amazes me is that people want to be reminded to safe guard their own lives even though they know about it. I guess that's why we're here, to try change that...

Working with the software has been great, watching it evolve from it's imperfect to an almost perfect phase. A lot of work needs to be done on it before everyone can use it but we'll get there. The team has really been of great assistance to our development in the BIT department and I am grateful for this. The S-T-&-D Process has a few differences from the BBS Process and it's interesting to see it being rolled out.

For the three weeks or so that we have been here we have acquired immense knowledge in terms of coaching, compiling daily and weekly reports, working with the project plan, capturing observations into the software and populating the checklists in the software. Unfortunately our mentor is away as he is sick but fortunately Thapelo is here is to mentor us in his absence. We hope he will be back soon as we miss him dearly.

I'm definitely enjoying my time on site.

22 May 2009

Shew... What a week!!! The last time I felt this way was when we were on site.
This has been a fruitful week filled with lots of learning and presenting.

We had the pleasure of attending, what many may call a Full Induction, where we had International guests and new employees. The aim of the Induction was to familiarise us with the IRCA operations, staff and clientele. And we achieved just that. Though we knew the basic operations and dynamics of IRCA, we still managed to learn a lot. I think I just realised this week, what a big organisation this is and how motivated everyone is to upholding our name. It's a great feeling being part of such a phenomenal industry and family.

Although we were attending these presentations we also had our fair share of presenting to prepare for. One of our "favourite" trainers came in this week to assist us in preparation for our own presentation. We are being assessed on our training and presenting skills next week. Reece played an imperative role in our development and "upskilling" so to say. We learned a lot about training, ourselves and him in this week. We are all getting the hang of this training concept and will hopefully survive the assessment next week.

The prospect of our move to the BIT department is nearing and we are very excited about the projects. We are all anxious to learn and understand the BIT process and ofcourse we're looking forward to gaining the experience and knowledge.

These are really exciting time for me personally, as I can feel the growth in character. Not only am I applying to my work but also to my personal life. It's really a great experience working with the PDP Squad and IRCA family.

I hope the next week bears nothing but smiles, laughter and joy for all of us.
With assessments on the way, we can only hope for the best as we have really gone the extra mile to prepare.

For now though, we are all exhausted and need the weekend rest.
So keep well and be good.
Out.

6 May 2006

It's been a while since we all blogged but I guess that can only mean that IRCA is keeping us on our feet. We have been busy with numerous tasks and I think it's time I reflect on that and share the experience.

The last time we blogged, we were about to present our Health and Safety System Structure/Plan to Wes and Jo. That went very well and as a matter of fact we were given the go ahead and we are busy implementing the system. We have conducted a bassline risk assessment throughout the whole building and have even made our recoomendations on our identified critical few risks. The experience was very exciting, as we got to finally put our theoretical knowledge to practice. It felt as though we are making a posiitive contribution because people were voicing their concerns to us...

We are now busy with a plan of action on how to proceed with the implementation of the system and the continuation of it. We have been having meetings and discussions at I must say we really starting to feel important. The little contribution we are making is giving all of us a good confidence boost.

We are simultaneously preparing for our co-presentation for training modules. The idea is that we should be declared competent for training by the beginning of June. At this rate we will definitely make it because we are having dry-runs on a regular basis and presenting to each other. We are getting the gyst of the whole presenting thing.

All in all, though we have been really busy, it's been a total pleasure working with the team. In a strange way, we work well together and we keep each other grounded. We are slowly fitting into the big shoes of the IRCA employees and at this rate we'll definitely be SHEQ Professionals who will make an impact in this industry.

Keep up the good work guys.

Out.

9 April

The beginning of a cycle of short weeks has started and it seems that our tasks are getting bigger as the weeks shrink.
This week we had to conclude our Health and Safety System framework and present it to Jo and Wes.
Monday and Tuesday have both been very hectic days as we were doing some dry-runs of our presentation.
We were all very active in the design of our framework and all felt that it was well done.

So Wednesday, 12:30 pm came and we had to do our thing. And yip, we did exactly that. We psyched ourselves up for a detailed yet simple presentation.
We managed to pull it off and impress both Wesley and Jo (and definitely ourselves)
With all that said and done, now the big component begins. The actual implementation. This will require a lot of time and attention, but I have absolute confidence that we’ll pull through.
It might not happen all in one go, but eventually we’ll get there.

We started with our system implementation today and it seems everyone is just as eager as we are to get a proper system up and running.
I think it’s going to be great fun and a tremendous learning curve for us.

Another task we have lined up is our co-presentation and now that our framework is set up, we can focus on that again.
It’s definitely going to be a busy period for a while, but keeping us on our toes will help produce the best results.

On a lighter note, it’s Easter time and people seem to be travelling and indulging in all kinds of activities.
So whatever it is, you’ll be doing, do it well.

Out.

9 April

The beginning of a cycle of short weeks has started and it seems that our tasks are getting bigger as the weeks shrink.
This week we had to conclude our Health and Safety System framework and present it to Jo and Wes.
Monday and Tuesday have both been very hectic days as we were doing some dry-runs of our presentation.
We were all very active in the design of our framework and all felt that it was well done.

So Wednesday, 12:30 pm came and we had to do our thing. And yip, we did exactly that. We psyched ourselves up for a detailed yet simple presentation.
We managed to pull it off and impress both Wesley and Jo (and definitely ourselves)
With all that said and done, now the big component begins. The actual implementation. This will require a lot of time and attention, but I have absolute confidence that we’ll pull through.
It might not happen all in one go, but eventually we’ll get there.

We started with our system implementation today and it seems everyone is just as eager as we are to get a proper system up and running.
I think it’s going to be great fun and a tremendous learning curve for us.

Another task we have lined up is our co-presentation and now that our framework is set up, we can focus on that again.
It’s definitely going to be a busy period for a while, but keeping us on our toes will help produce the best results.

On a lighter note, it’s Easter time and people seem to be travelling and indulging in all kinds of activities.
So whatever it is, you’ll be doing, do it well.

Out.

2 April

This week we have been busy with our health and safety system framework and doing training observations. The tasks were all manageable and we were able to get through the day with a fair balance between our two tasks. However as the week progressed things got more intense and we were required to give more of ourselves.

The observations helped us to see training in a different light. We are now able to identify the different types of presentation skills. I think we now need to focus on creating a balance to our training skills, in terms of polishing our technical knowledge. I think once that is done, we will be confident and competent to co-present a module. I must admit that it's pretty exciting to be at the level which we are, I never thought I would personally be able to present on certain things. I guess these are the perks of being a "PDP girl".

In relation to our system framework, we are all (finally) swimming in the same sea...
Things are slowly coming together, but the main thing is that we all have the same ideology. This will definitely make it easier to glue our presentation together and simultaneously "blow" Wesley and Jo away...

On a lighter note,it has been a fairly good week for us, considering that we have a new member in the PDP squad, Wesley's new born daughter Kira-Lee. She was delivered on monday morning, which also happens to be my little brothers birthday, so she is definitely of value in my life. She is so beautiful, I swear you just wanna cry when you see her. I can't wait to have my own one day.

A lot of progress has been made in the whole program. We are all becoming comfortable and I can definitely see the birth of handsome (and beautiful), intelligent risk professionals.

Lets keep up the good work guys.
Have a lekker one.
Out.