SkillsTech Australia has completed the pilot of a three year international partnership with Bradken, an Australian heavy engineering and manufacturing company.
The partnership involves skills assessment and training — to Certificate Three standard — of Bradken staff at the company’s Chinese and Australian operations.
Bradken wants the majority of staff trained to Australian standards, a three year project which begins with staff at the company’s XuZhou factory (Jiangsu Province) in 2009.
The XuZhou Rail workshop manufactures freight wagon sub components and complete freight wagons.
SkillsTech Australia Assistant Director Gordon Elledge was in China in December last year establishing the training and development program at XuZhou.
This involved a pilot project designing pathways for employees to achieve a Certificate 3 in Engineering Fabrication, conducting Recognition of Prior Learning, identifying skills gaps and arranging training where needed.
“The project involves evaluating Bradken’s workforce in China, identifying the skill-sets they need to do the job and aligning these to the relevant competencies and qualifications,” said Elledge.
“Obtaining these qualifications will give the XuZhou-based staff flexibility to work in the company’s operations.” SkillsTech Australia will conduct a similar process at Bradken’s Ipswich operations to enable international and Australian employees to upgrade their skills and qualifications.
“Australian training standards are internationally recognised as high quality so this project ensures Bradken staff in Australia and overseas are trained to those standards,” said Ellege.
The project is also designed to meet the specific training requirements of Bradken, including flexibility to move staff between the company locations.
The Certificate Three for internationals is not a trade qualification, although Australian citizens can progress their Cert Three to a trade qualification if they go through the appropriate procedures.