EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
All image credits : OTTC
This concluded the last training group of 10 of a total of 50 students from ArcelorMittal . All students passed the OTTC ammonia diploma . The group of 50 consisted of people working on the plants , operators , and management of diverse ethnicity and gender . According to OTTC management , this was a wonderfull project to prove that everybody can work together and also graduate at the same time . It was also a good program for team building for the company .
At the ceremony , the graduates were addressed by various members of the OTTC team . Opening and concluding the proceedings was Isolde Dobelin , owner and centre director of OTTC , who thanked the graduates for attending and offered congratulations on their achievement . She further commended the students for their participation efforts with this diploma course . Dobelin said to the graduates , “ A big thank you must firstly go to your company because it ' s not very common to let staff go for a continual six-week period of training . You are very special because normally these sessions are spread over the course of one or two years ; you always have gaps and then you have to recap and proceed . Secondly , I must state that some students think that having a certificate or diploma means they must go job hunting for more money . OTTC does not recommend any
Group of graduates receive ammonia diplomas
By Benjamin Brits
The Open Trade Training Centre ( OTTC ) hosted another of their traditional graduation ceremonies at their premises in Springs in April .
graduate to any other company , and in fact will only consider helping people who are suitably qualified that are unemployed due to retrenchment or alike circumstances . We remain loyal to our customers and students should be loyal to the company you work for too . It ' s not good , and we do not support getting a qualification only to run to another company for a few rand more . As graduates you must consider that companies that make you better offers will likely not send you for any further training because you already have the skills they need . Essentially you will see the ‘ grass is not greener on the other side ,’ so please be aware of that .”
The graduate group of ammonia technicians that concluded the group of 50 students .
The Open Trade Training Centre team is growing .
1 and 2 : In tradition of the training centre , graduates are able to put their name up on the ‘ graduation tree ’ at the reception area .
Dobelin continued to share that OTTC would be 30 years old on the first of June this year and plans were in place to celebrate this achievement at the FRIGAIR exhibition where the centre had booked two stands to promote their training scope and to gain good exposure .
Further address included OTTC ’ s high international standards and training that has been showcased in the WorldSkills Competition since 1999 . Over that period , eight OTTC national Worldskill winners from South Africa were chosen to participate at the international events . This according to Dobelin means that , “ Our standards are right , but to participate in a WorldSkills Competition is not only to win the gold medal , participants have the opportunity to see a lot of standards from other countries , they get to meet nice people ( including all the experts ), and get to experience another country which is really a wonderful experience ”.
Next to address the graduates was Bruce Scallan - refrigeration , air conditioning and special applications trainer at OTTC . Scallan noted that OTTC is going to focus a lot more on refrigeration from their very basic courses - R1 and R2 , right up to their diploma courses ( Refrigeration Diploma ). The centre is also looking at providing an online element that they are very excited about and currently investigating to launch in the near future . This element will include a digital platform to address the theory subjects , however the students will still have to go to the college to do the practical elements which are important as its impossible to study everything online . The centre is also looking at developing some new courses that will add chillers and heat pumps to their curriculum . Here Scallan will be driving this expansion .
“ Well done on your achievement . You can feel very proud of yourselves . Thank you to Kurt and Anna – you are excellent instructors and have incredible industry experience . The group of learners are fortunate to have such good instructors ”, Scallan added .
Anesh Datadin , skills trainer at OTTC also had the opportunity to speak to the graduates and commented , “ It ' s important for people to understand the use of tools . Nothing can be achieved without knowing how to handle tools and how to use them .
Everything starts with tools and with this - safety is first . The wrong application of tools can unfortunately cause fatalities . It is therefore critical to know how to use the tool correctly and how to keep yourself safe , as well as your colleagues and the environment . I always have four steps to consider when someone is doing something wrong . These are : 1 ) you must stop , 2 ) you must look at the job on hand , 3 ) you must evaluate the situation , and 4 ) you must rectify the wrong . One cannot waste materials and resources . The idea is to use the resources to the best of their ability , not only for the sake of the company you work for , but for yourself - for your own personal gain and to complete a job you can be proud of .”
Lastly , Ana-Marie Sibiya , technical director at OTTC also offered some words to the graduates . “ It ' s always an honor to meet new people when you are students . I think you have an idea of what the training centre is all about and you have learned alot . But importantly , besides learning about ammonia , you have learnt about your own trade . We both know that even though this is your trade - you still have a lot to learn . Here we do not only sell education , we sell knowledge . So , go and practice what you ' ve learned and remember : do not touch what you don ' t know ! I trust that what you have learned does not go to waste . Please remember that it ' s not always the company ' s responsibility to further your knowledge - it ' s your own initiative as well that counts . Hopefully we will meet again in future and then we can talk differently , by have a good technical conversation . In ending off , I want to tell you that even though everything can be taken away from you , the knowledge you gain always stays with you . Also remember that safety always comes first .”
Dobelin concluded her address in thanking the group for being good students and expressed her pride at the fact that everybody ( all 50 ) passed . “ That is a very good result for OTTC and I ' m sure the graduates learned a lot . I ' m also sure now they know exactly how to work and what to do to protect everybody as safety is so important in companies , and that is why we emphasise it .”
The ceremony was concluded by the handing over of the diplomas . CLA
18 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • June 2022