Individuals who volunteer to take up positions such as ASTT Councillor roles are usually driven by their passion for the industry and make a lot of sacrifices.
Andy Krumins who has served as the ASTT Queensland Councillor for over 20 years is no exception.
I wish to pay tribute to Andy’s dedication and contributions to the ASTT.
I wish Andy every success in his future endeavours.
I also wish to acknowledge the contributions of my South Australian colleague, Mr Tim Bartholomaeus and welcome the incoming Councillor for Queensland, Mr Ben Crosby, and the new Councillor for South Australia Mr Chris Neate.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Trenchless Australasia magazine, and on this note I wish to congratulate Great Southern Press on developing our industry’s main communication medium from what started as a two page brief newsletter drafted by the ASTT Secretary, to the regular magazine that it is today which is a comprehensive, informative and best of all, strikes the right balance between advertorial, commercial and technical content.
30 years ago, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) was still a concept; today it is the preferred method for laying new cables and conduits in difficult environments.
While we should all be celebrating the capabilities and benefits of HDD technology and the outcomes that have been achieved to date, we should all be cognizant of the safety implications of lack of training in this area of trenchless.
WH&S laws are very clear in terms of the roles and responsibilities of PCBUs concerning competency requirements, and impose severe penalties for non-compliance.
Appropriate training of HDD operators is obviously essential for minimising the risks involved.
ADITC has recently invested in developing training packages for Cert II and Cert III in HDD but the take up of the training has been less than satisfactory primarily because asset owners are not being consistent in enforcing minimum competency standards.
A new service has just been introduced by Trenchless Advisor P/L which aims to establish current competency levels and identify training gaps for HDD operators.
Verification of Competency is a new concept that should help HDD operators/PCBUs benchmark their skills.
This service brings us a step closer to a holistic approach to training and authorisation of HDD operators.