Solid Engineering have recently completed an upgrade to the Newcastle Mines Rescue Station, installing a brand new Confined Spaces and Working at Heights Facility.
The new facility gives Newcastle Mines Rescue Station the capability to offer an advanced training area for customers and brigade members to train in confined spaces and working at heights.
With majority of heavy industry requiring confined spaces and safely working at heights qualifications, the Newcastle Mines Rescue Station identified the importance of such a facility to upskill not only Mines Rescue brigade members and staff but to be able to offer accredited training to commercial customers.
“Our Hunter Valley Mines Rescue Station has been able to offer this training for many years to not only the mining companies up in the Valley but also companies in other industries,” said Darren Parker, Newcastle Regional Manager, NSW Mines Rescue.
“With the installation of our new facility it allows Newcastle Mines Rescue to provide a best practice combined confined spaces and working from heights training area so that any industry in the Newcastle and surrounding areas can come to us and get quality training.”
The all-weather training area is completely under cover and is one of the few confined spaces and working at heights facilities in the region to enable training to proceed without subjecting participants to the rain, wind and other outdoor elements.
Solid Engineering took on the job in May this year and started manufacturing in July. The installation took place over a three-week period and was completed on September 23.
Brad Kebblewhite, General Manager at Solid Engineering said the job ran smoothly with no rework, no injuries and a successful outcome.
“We had three team members on site, a project manager and a few guys in the workshop manufacturing, with around six or seven people out of the team that got involved at different parts of the job,” said Brad.
“Trying to navigate the Covid lockdown situation, which hit us right at the start of the job, was a little bit new with working out who could go where and how many people you could have on site, and that’s something we managed to juggle successfully during the process.”
Darren said Solid Engineering came highly recommended for the job after noting some of the great work the guys have done around the industry. “From our end, the boys did a great job.”
“We were still operating and performing our work and training while the boys were here, and they worked in well with our operations.”
