Our very own Chief Operations Officer Marcus Bathan and Upper North Regional Training Manager Andrew Sykes have been chosen to represent NZ in two very important Health and Safety capacities. 

Marcus is now (one of two) representing NZ on the GWO (Global Wind Organisation) standards Australasian committee and Andrew also represents NZ (as one of two) within the SF15 Working at Height Standards Committee. 

GWO Committee
Marcus recently got invited by the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) to attend the Australia NZ GWO standard alignment project, which was hosted in Melbourne.
 
The working group was made up of energy providers and accredited GWO providers mainly from Australia. VHG were the only NZ accredited provider along with Bobby Ball from Meridian Energy Ltd also representing the New Zealand Wind Energy Association (NZWEA).
 
There were two main objectives to complete over the two days and one was to ensure that the international GWO standards aligned to our applicable ASNZ standards, and that the course also met the regulatory requirements of our respective, Act’s, Codes of Practice and Good Practice guidelines.
 
The 2nd was to review the 3 GWO standards and also align where necessary against the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Australian Skills Qualification Authority. The standards we reviewed were;

• Basic safety training standard (BST)- This Standard has been developed in response to the demand for recognizable Basic Safety Training (BST) in the industry. It has been prepared in co-operation between the members of GWO based on risk assessments and factual incident and accident statistics pertaining to the installation, service and maintenance of wind turbine generators and wind power plants. This Standard describes the requirements for Basic Safety Training courses that are recommended by the members of GWO. The full standard covers 6 modules: 1) First Aid 2) Manual Handling 3) Fire Awareness 4) Working at Height 5) Manual Handling and 6) Sea Survival.
• Advanced Rescue Techniques - The ART standard has been developed to enable Delegates to perform entry-type injured person rescue operations, in a wind turbine using industry standard rescue equipment, rescue methods and techniques, exceeding those of GWO Working at Height.
• Basic Technical Training Standard - This Standard has been developed in response to the demand for recognizable Basic Technical Training in the industry and has been prepared in co-operation between the members of GWO based on risk assessments and factual incident and accident statistics pertaining to the installation, service and maintenance of wind turbine generators and wind power plants. This Standard describes the requirements for Basic Technical Training courses that are recommended by the members of GWO. The standard covers 4 modules: Hydraulic Mechanical Electrical Installation.

 
Marcus said “to be able to attend these working groups and add real value across an international sector is something that VH should be proud of”
 
There is still work to be done over the coming months and implementation won’t be until mid-2020. VH look forward to being a part of the journey.
 

SF15 Working at Height Standards Committee
Andrew Sykes our Regional Manager based in Auckland has recently been nominated by the Industrial Rope Access Association of New Zealand (IRAANZ) to be their representative on the Standards Committee. The committee is made up of representatives and peak bodies within Australasia ensuring that a cross section of users is represented, and the outcomes are achievable in all industry sectors.  The Standards Committee Andrew will participate in is responsible for overseeing all height safety related Australian/New Zealand Standards ranging from anchor installation and product manufacture through to how to safely use those items within the workplace. The standards are constantly being reviewed to ensure they are workable and reflect best practise not only within Australasia but worldwide.

The benefits to Vertical Horizonz and its client base are great as it will ensure all the learning outcomes relating to heights are valid and current. In addition to that it will mean the latest worldwide learnings can easily be distributed through its far reaching client network.

We wish Andrew all the best in his new endeavours in ensuring that Vertical Horizonz continues to be seen as the market leader in safety training throughout New Zealand.