The Murray & Roberts Cementation Training Academy is the only training facility of its kind that is ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:1999 certified in South Africa. The academy has been accredited by the Mining Qualifications Authority to provide training in engineering, mineral extraction, occupational health & safety representative skills and ABET. The academy has a current capacity intake of 450 learners per day and plans to extend its services beyond Murray & Roberts Cementation employees, to the South African mining industry at large. The Academy also recently applied to the MQA for scope extension into the wider field of occupational health & safety at National Qualification (NQ) level 2 and 3.

Tony Pretorius, Risk Manager at the Murray & Roberts Cementation Training Academy, says “This is a world class mining contracting training facility. We have all the necessary resources and competencies to deliver world class training to industry personnel. Our range of capabilities in Occupationally Directed Education Training and Development includes ancillary soft skills programmes, basic engineering, conventional and trackless mining and development, mining services and shaft sinking as well as Adult Basic Education and Training and a host of other SHEQ related programmes

“Our training methodology incorporates a wide range of technology such as e-learning, conventional and mining services mock-ups, trackless mechanised simulation, visual based training and mass integrated assessment based training. We’re also able to provide accommodation for our trainees for the duration of their courses.”

The Murray & Roberts Cementation Training Academy was established in November 2005, originally to provide employees with company induction and special skills training. Over subsequent years, and as a result of substantial investment into the facility, its offering has expanded and evolved to occupy a foremost position in the mining training arena.

In 2012, a multi-million rand upgrade to the facility made it possible for the training team to implement components of the necessary skills transfer across all stages of Murray & Roberts Cementation’s new shaft sinking method. The new shaft sinking method, proven in the Canadian mining industry, is a complete move away from the traditional South African approach to shaft sinking. All activities in the sinking cycle are handled in line — no two jobs take place simultaneously.

At the Murray & Roberts Cementation Training Academy, each of the four existing six metre diameter training shafts has been modified to replicate a specific phase of the new shaft sinking cycle. This ensures that every team member actually practices the procedures repeatedly to develop end user proficiency skills before being deployed to a project site. In support of applied competency, all learners undergo stringent assessment to ensure skills programme exit level outcomes are met across foundational, reflexive and practical competency levels.