Officer second in champs
Although he now works for Palmerston North police, former civil construction engineer Sam Scott hasn’t lost any of his skills.
Scott was named New Zealand’s second best excavator operator after an intense two-day competition at the Central Districts Field Days.
Scott won the title in 2013, but his latest placing will be his second silver.
While painting a few numbers, pouring a cup of tea and slam-dunking a basketball don’t sound like difficult tasks, they can get a little complicated when your hand is the arm of a 12-tonne digger.
Scott started work for Higgins in 2007. He worked all around the region, primarily for the Manawatu District Council.
He had a change of heart in 2011, when he joined the police, but has continued to work with diggers on and off for contractors.
In front of large audiences, the ten competitors had to impress the judges with their operator techniques and knowledge of health and safety precautions.
Competition manager Malcolm Abernethy said Scott demonstrated a high level of skill, knowledge and professionalism.
‘‘Over the 23 years we’ve been running the competition, we’ve seen how it fosters enthusiasm for excellence among operators.’’
Abernethy said the construction industry carried out $12 billion of work and employed 60,000 workers.