Five high school students from Upper Hunter Valley schools recently swapped their classrooms and school uniforms for safety glasses and hard hats as they spent a week gaining an insight into a career in the mining industry at Drayton mine.
Drayton mine Human Resources (HR) Manager Karine Williams said Drayton was delighted to continue its proud legacy of hosting local secondary students for work experience placements.
"As one of the largest employers in the local region, we employ hundreds of people in a diverse range of jobs and professions on site, so it was great to provide students with an understanding of the kinds of jobs we have on a mine site," she said.
"With many different and exciting occupations on offer, the students had many to choose from when it came to deciding which areas they wanted to get some experience in during their week-long placements.
"Our work experience students came from Muswellbrook and Scone High Schools as well as from Scone Grammar, and while on site they experienced life in a range of occupations starting with a high voltage electrician to working in information management.
"Safety as usual plays a major role in Drayton hosting the students for their work experience placement with all of them successfully completing our site induction, Risk Assessment and Visitor Isolation Lock processes prior to commencing at site.
"Throughout their week of work experience the students are required to comply with all our safety standards and received training on how to identify a hazard and report it through our Stop, Look Assess, Manage (work safely) SLAM process.
"Choosing a career at any stage of your life can be a daunting time, however I'm sure the experience the students gain from spending a week in the workforce at Drayton will only further encourage them to work hard on securing a career in the mining industry," said Karine.
Special thanks to HR Admin Officer Angela Barry for her diligent work in liaising with the teachers and students involved in this year's work experience program at Drayton mine.
Work Experience Jacob Marshall Muswellbrook High tries his hand with the Maintenance team
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Contact: Jacqui Strambi 0439 774 526
Notes to editors:
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www.angloamerican.com.au