As the maintenance leading hand I use my communication and organizational skills to Liaise with the manager, piggery supervisors and piggery attendants to notify them all of upcoming projects and maintenance works. I work on the upkeep and repair of stock pens, feed systems, water pumps, transport and amenities across the 6 units at Huntly. Using my mechanical aptitude, knowledge of welding techniques and my management skills I design and fabricate new work areas, feed systems, stock pens and other capital expenditure works. Liaising with contractors, ordering materials and parts and working within a team is all part of my role at rivalea.

As the head welder on afternoon shift I am responsible for the interpretation of drawings, working with engineers on the fabrication of products, fabricating to specifications, carrying out repairs to the structural integrity and cosmetic finish of both national and international product, liaise with quality assurance about common problems found within the products, training the apprentices on site and to lead information sessions for the other welders on processes and important information. I am currently being trained up in magnetic particle, die penetrant and ultrasonic testing of castings. When we have shutdowns I have been working with the maintenance department on a range of fabrication projects as well as maintenance based jobs. For example pulldown and repairs of shot blasters, repairs on pumps, fabricating augers shoots and safety guards, making of catwalks and ladders to specifications and installation of new machinery to name a few.

Worked within a small team of boilermakers to fabricate products for both national and international businesses. Applying our skills like interpreting drawings, knowledge of welding techniques and mechanical aptitude we fabricated Gawk screens, bridge railing, house frames, sheds, custom trays for trucks, semi-trailer builds and fit outs for speedway car carriers, catwalks, ladders, handrails, billboards and structural components for train stations. I was also lucky enough to work on both sprint cars and super rods whilst I was there doing jobs which included fabrication of chassis, installation of motors and other running parts and motor/car maintenance weekly before the next race.

As the maintenance manager I used my communication and organizational skills to Liaise with the manager, piggery supervisors and piggery attendants to notify them all of upcoming projects and maintenance works. I had to plan and supervise daily workflow for the small maintenance teams over 3 sites on the upkeep and repair of stock pens, feed systems, water pumps, transport and amenities. By using my mechanical aptitude, knowledge of welding techniques and my management skills I had to design and fabricate new work areas, feed systems, stock pens and other capital expenditure works. Other key parts of my job was liaising with contractors, ordering materials and parts, ensuring our sites complied with work safes occupational health and safety act.

I did my apprenticeship at Hazeldenes working in the projects and maintenance teams. Our scope of work ranged from small repair jobs in the factory and render to building augers, pulling down boilers for inspection, designing and fabricating new machinery and plant systems, installing new plants and equipment, repairing and rebuilding pumps and other mechanical machinery, repairs to trucks and tractors, repairs and fabrication of pneumatic systems within the factory and render. Whilst at Hazeldenes I attained my forklift and elevated work platform license’s, I also did training in OHS and first aid. After I had finished my apprenticeship I was given the opportunity to supervise and train the new apprentices.