Chemicals production staff from chemicals company a.b.e. Construction Chemicals recently underwent a 12-month training programme, provided by the Institute for Quality Education Training and Development, to further their skills sets, the company tells Engineering News.

Four members of the production staff graduated on October 29, 2014, after successfully completing the Chemical Operations (Chem OPS) training, which is Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority-accredited.

a.b.e. has operations in Boksburg and Durban, and forms part of Chryso Southern Africa.

Chryso Group human resources and organisation GM Brian Matthee says a.b.e. provides the National Qualifications Framework Level One training as part of Chryso Group’s commitment to broad-based black economic empowerment, which includes substantial group investment in learnership programmes and upgrading staff members’ skills.

The four Boksburg-based a.b.e. production staff members who graduated and received their certificates at a special graduation ceremony organised by the Institute for Quality Education Training and Development are Nathaniel Manganye and Jabulani Dlamini, who successfully completed Chem OPS Level 1 training in warehousing and logistics, and Mapule Mokoena and George Ndlovu, who successfully completed Chem OPS Level 1 training in production.

“We had also enrolled another a.b.e. Boksburg factory staff member, Liberty Sibiya, who also successfully completed the training programme, but sadly passed away before the graduation ceremony,” says Matthee.

The Chem OPS training incudes several health and safety aspects to increase operational safety and situational awareness in the workplace. Matthee says some of the units covered in the programme include basic firefighting skills, the maintenance of safety procedures in the workplace and health and environmental issues. Basic first-aid training is also part of the programme.

Encouraging Skills Development
Matthee says the most recent Chem OPS Level 1 graduates started their year-long, on-the-job training – which emphasises theoretical and practical production aspects – at the beginning of 2013.

“The candidates for the weekly four-hour voluntary training programme were selected after an assessment by a.b.e. Their successful training, visible improvement in production expertise and general enthusiasm have inspired their colleagues to follow suit,” he says.

This resulted in additional production staff members – 11 from a.b.e and five Chryso Group – enrolling for the 2014 Chem OPS Level 1 course, which will end next month.

The four a.b.e. graduates also enrolled for the Chem OPS Level 2 training programme last year to further their studies.

Matthee says staff members currently undergoing Chem OPS Level 1 training will naturally progress to Chem OPS Level 2 once they have graduated from Level 1.

“Management staff members were also enrolled in a management advancement programme through Wits Business School,” he adds.

a.b.e. is also paying for a senior company manager to complete his MBA degree through the University of Pretoria’s management development faculty.

“Part of our succession planning and career development policy is to develop and prepare our employees for more senior positions in the organisation,” says Matthee.

a.b.e. has promoted skills development in several fields other than chemical operations, including the Advanced Concrete Technology course, presented by The Concrete Institute.

Laboratory staff members at a.b.e.’s Isipingo branch, in KwaZulu-Natal, also attend paint technology courses under the auspices of the South African Paint Industry Training Institute.

In addition, Chryso and a.b.e. sales personnel attend professional selling skills and sales coaching courses through training company Achieve Global.