Newsletter: 2nd Quarter 2007
Indigenous trainees complete program at Dawson
The Dawson Mine has successfully completed its first training program for 15 indigenous people from Central Queensland, with four trainees gaining employment with Dawson to date. Another six trainees will be offered positions over two more intakes.
The pilot program is part of Dawson Mine's community engagement plan to encourage indigenous people to gain employment in the mining industry and was supported by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Trainees included traditional owners represented by the people from the Gangulu Toby tribe, the Palm Tree Wuturu tribe and the Woorabinda community.
HR Manager Christopher Burnet said the three week program is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, providing the trainees with an intense introduction to all facets of production mining.
"The trainees gained hands-on experience with a variety of mining machinery, including a strong focus on safety and risk management," Christopher said.
"Traditionally this type of training is done in a class room, but it was a total emersion process with the trainees living at the workers' accommodation in Moura throughout the course, enabling them to mix with current employees and contractors working at Dawson Mine."
Many people in Dawson came together to make the program a success according to Christopher.
"There were a wide range of people involved, from management to people who are experts in their own field to production people who all gave their time to make the program a success," Christopher said.
A lot of preparation went into developing the program with the team headed by Terri Watson - Training and Development Coordinator, Geraldine Gillespie - Production Safety Officer and Glen Coppo - Contract Training Provider.
Terri said a key focus of the program was to ensure that when the trainees finished the course they would have some valid competencies to take elsewhere in case they were not successful in gaining employment with Dawson.
"The program was extremely successful with four trainees gaining employment with Dawson and one with another coal mining company in the region. A further six positions will be offered over two more intakes," Terri said.
