Last week saw Team Nkegete team members journey from their respective base locations to Stanton-by-Dale in rural Derbyshire. The reason for this excursion? To undergo bridge-building specific health and safety training, where we would learn how to safely use the tools and equipment that will be required to build the Nkegete Trailbridge.

After successfully navigating our way to the training centre (the first test of the day…), we got into our PPE and set about learning how to use the mighty Tirfor Winch. For the uninitiated, the Tirfor is a portable manual wire rope hoist, an ideal lightweight product for moving large loads. This will be a critical piece of kit that we will use to pull steel cables across the valley and which will form the bridge.

After a demonstration on how to safely set up, use and then demob the Tirfor, our instructors then tasked us with using it unguided to test what we had learnt. This involved attaching the Tirfor to a 3T van and towing it. Whilst overall a simple exercise, towing the van with the winch highlighted how important it will be to ensure we have good communication when we are building the bridge. It will be so essential for everyone to understand their role and execute it safely during some of the big tasks on site like fixing the cables.


We returned the following day to complete our harness awareness and abrasive wheels training. Working at height will be one of the main risks the team face when building the bridge. We were shown various types of harnesses, how to fit them properly and what kind of defects to look out for that would stop us from using them as they would be deemed unsafe. This also sparked several conversations about our construction methodology, and it was great to see all of the team getting involved in the sequencing and safety aspects of the build.

We finished the training by learning how to use an angle grinder and traditional cut off saw. These were two pretty intimidating bits of kit, but through breaking down the safety theory and correct usage protocols behind each, the team were soon cutting off bars of steel and grinding dumper buckets before they knew it.

After the two-day training course, the team are now trained and competent in using some of the more hazardous bits of equipment we will need when we are in Rwanda. A special mention must go to our instructors, Jim and Geoff, who supplemented their training expertise with plenty of enthusiasm and interest and made the two days really good fun. 

As H&S lead during the bridge build, I am absolutely determined to keep everyone safe during the project. This training is critical to ensuring that everyone is aware of how to properly use bits of kit that could pose a hazard to themselves and other if used incorrectly. It was great to see everyone get actively involved in the training and taking it seriously.  Personally, I found the two days invaluable, and it focused my mind even more on identifying and mitigating the key risks on site.

 

-Ali Taylor