Down the white rabbit hole of Australian Mining Training

We have all been there, at the bottom of the page on Seek, that link that promises to lead to a course that is going to teach you something about mining. Instead you get project management and OH&S courses, completely useless when it comes to getting a start in mining. If you dive in a little deeper then you will find the outlines of the certificate 2-4 in underground operations, there are so many units listed. But try as you might you can’t find an RTO that will provide a course for you to do.

The last TAFE to run a course I know of was in Bendigo Victoria, that stopped years ago. So why are there so many units but no courses? Years ago a couple of the larger underground contractor companies turned their training departments into RTO’s in the hope of being able to issue one ticket that covers many mines. The idea was to turn each procedure into a unit and get the staff to sit each unit, that way their staff wouldn’t have to fill out all the paper work required each time their staff changed sites. They spent millions of dollars to put it into place and the mines inspectors in each state said, “NO, we like the system just the way it is, thank you very much”. In their opinion requiring each mine site to have its own set of paperwork is a key part of improving safety in the Australian mining industry. It does make the people running the mine very accountable, so I can see where they are coming from.

This means that even though there are many units, no one is going to be putting a course together anytime soon, the mining companies own the information in the units and they aren’t going to share. The other problem with TAFE is time, all the courses that have been run in the past were all 6months plus, for information that most companies expect to be picked up in a couple of weeks. This is why most formal qualifications are just seen as an expense. That employers aren’t going to buy into, not when they have to put every new employee, no matter how experienced, though all the paper work no exception.

It’s not going to change any time soon, but what about the S11 or general induction in QLD that’s a formal qualification isn’t it? Yes, but when you sign up they don’t tell you that the 2day course you do only covers safety and other non-mining units. The certificate requires you to complete the mining units on site at your job. So as a means of getting your first mining job, the S11 offers no advantage. The fact that most of the RTO’s that offer this course often fail to mention the fact, that you need a job to complete the qualification, speaks volumes on the effectiveness of the course and morals of the training company. I am yet to meet someone that has got a start by doing this course.

Then there is the 3day Truck driving courses, $3,000 to drive a truck around a paddock. The last time I know someone got a job through these courses was in the late 90’s when Rio and BHP first ramped up. So what is the alternative? There is a company in Western Australia that offers courses that have been written using the WA mining Act & Regs as the standard. These courses are online and used by mining companies from around the world.

So how did this company come about? Recognising that the system isn’t going to change any time soon, a group of ticketed WA shift bosses came together to write a series of courses designed to bring a new starter up to speed and survive the first 6months. Originally a 3day sit down course run by a ticket shift boss, the information has now been put online in 4 online courses.

Having been one of the original shift bosses to write and run the courses I have been given access to the online course, making it part of the packages I offer. The “Do it yourself” package comes with the 4 online courses plus a seminar I wrote about the Australian mining industry. It contains information about what we mine and where, as well as how to write a mining friendly resume. I go through how to write your resume step by step, recently I wrote a resume for a friend of a friend who did the courses, he got 5 interview in 8days, landing the first job he interviewed for. Once the training is complete and you have done your resume I send you a twice weekly email, with the links to all the jobs I think you should be applying for.

Over the 6years I have been involved with teaching people, we have got great results with people getting interviews, over 90%. That has led to good results in people getting themselves a successful mining career. If you want more information leave a message in the link across the page or to sign up for the package follow the link below

Do it yourself $270

All payments are taken through Underground Training’s payment system to assist with the process of sending out the logins for both the seminar and online courses.