INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
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Student praises training centre ’ s commitment to learners
All photos : © Cold Link Africa | Benjamin Brits
Henco Weyers shared his experience with Cold Link Africa , and his perspective as one of the many people on the other end of the training stick .
Training is unfortunately one of those industry dynamics that often doesn ’ t get the attention it deserves , but at the same time is essential to ensuring that , a technician for example , can do their work professionally and knowledgeably without endangering themselves or their fellow employees .
I completed the Open Trade Training Centre ( OTTC ) ammonia technician course in 2018 having worked in Angola for a couple of years at a fish processing facility without any ‘ official training ’ on the plant , relying solely on what I was shown . I must just also set the scene here - I have attended a number of other training colleges before and when I arrived at OTTC , I was honestly excited because it was the only training centre that I have been to that actually had plant rooms – you do your theory in the classroom and then you get the opportunity to go and experience what you have learnt on the actual plant , and this is very important for people who work with their hands .
Another very important element I experienced straight away was the respect towards all safety aspects , even though some tasks are difficult to carry out with protective equipment , this is something that is always at the forefront of importance .
I never thought much of refrigeration in the beginning , but who would have thought the depths people have gone into over the last few years to figure out , for example , how much heat is lost every time you open a door , or specific calculations around the product you want to chill or freeze , how much energy you are going to need , and so on .
Based on my initial experience I was eager to be back in 2020 to do as many of the other courses I could to progress in my
new interest of refrigeration . I started out with the basics of refrigeration , history and safety – OTTC , unlike other training centres insist that their learners have all of the groundwork in order . You could also get an assessment when you start , to judge where your skill level sits at to be able to identify particular focus areas .
Even the most basic elements of the various training areas were very enjoyable because even though I had some work experience in the bag and had been to other training centres , there was so much I realised that I didn ’ t know – for example when you have to fill up a cylinder in refrigerant recovery and all the basic maths formulas to help you that was never even mentioned to me before .
Progressing though the other training portions from then onwards , each level became more and more difficult . These included the basics , pipe bending and cutting , building , maintenance and fault finding , before getting to design and electrical . Learning about the electrical side gave me new insight because I knew electricity and refrigeration go hand in hand , but you don ’ t expect to learn in so much detail , and , in the short amount of time speaks directly to the thoroughness of the training .
I was fortunate as a ‘ special student ’ that there have been a few opportunities where I have been able to fast track my training because of my existing knowledge coupled with the extremely thorough regime . Completing each level in the training gives a person confidence in what you can actually do ( which you thought you couldn ’ t ).
The electrical portion of the OTTC framework was one of the more advanced classes and it was in all honesty quite difficult , especially in the beginning . But through the support of the facilitator , I quickly reached the opportunity to design my own plant from the electrical point of view and then do the build myself .
Henco Weyers shows one of the many plants he worked on as an assessment . The principle being that the plant worked before and must work correctly after completing the assessment .
Weyers proudly discussing his completed design as part of the electrical course he completed .
Students get given equipment and parts that are needed , and the facilitators give the students their exact requirements and offer the flexibility to complete the tasks because in fact there are so many ways you can go about it .
The design course was also extremely difficult because ( I was lacking a lot of experience and even the other students with seven to eight years ’ experience struggled as it is an advanced course ). You keep thinking to yourself , “ There is no way I ’ ll be able to make it in the first few days .” But the course is presented by Mr Kurt Johannsen , who works and guides each student through . I , in fact , re-did the design course at a later stage ( to get more experience ). The students are asked what it is they want to design or want to be able to design by the end of the course - so doing another course allowed me to learn another design .
One of the major things I can say about OTTC which makes them the ideal / perfect place to go and study is the training from the facilitators – this is in essence incomparable when you are taught from someone who has been in the industry with 50 years working experience and has designed and built over 600 working plants – you know you are getting the best training available .
The facilitators are also all very strict , so when they give you a project and specify what they expect , after you are done they sit and take measurements and mark what is correct and will reject what is not correct ( you then need to start over ).
I was also taught at OTTC to measure three times and cut once – don ’ t make unnecessary mistakes because this causes waste and waste means money lost . I was also taught that your working station should be clean and neat at all times as it keeps you focused , and it makes it easier for one to get your tools without constantly looking for it between all the other tools .
You know , training and being accredited to do a job is no game as I now realise . When you have to go and work on a plant or at a site where there may be various risks , you need to know what you are doing , otherwise you could be putting your own life , and other ’ s lives in danger .
By doing the maintenance on the existing plant at OTTC you also get to work with real-life scenarios of what you may experience on a site where things may also not be ideal such as working in confined spaces or having to navigate pipe runs through small spaces or alongside electrical cables – you also then learn the risks around this .
All of the associated details of a plant , the design , refrigeration systems , understanding electricity and safety are actually critical in the learning framework . More than this , I have learnt the elements of professionalism and pride at OTTC .
OTTC has taught me many things and with their broad variety of courses makes it ideal for every HAVCR technician . The course I enjoyed the most was when four of the refrigeration units were ‘ sabotaged ’. I had to do the fault finding which kept me busy for quite a while trying to get the unit to run again without any problem . CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • March / April 2021 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 7