Editorial

Safety is synonymous with Industrial Training— Nicholas Chin, 1st quarter top performer in Noranda’s Environment/Health/Safety Recognition programme.

Industrial training has played an important role in the evolution of the bauxite industry. Employees drawn from the rural areas in the pioneer days of the 1950ʼs were unaccustomed to industrialization of any sort, and had to be trained and acclimatized to the new dispensation of 8-hour jobs, rigid time-keeping, safety standards, work ethics and strict discipline.

The objective, similar to the mantra of the present day HEART NTA, was the creation of a highly skilled, productive and competitive work-force.

The bauxite industry was a pace setter in this regard, with the early companies Alcan, Reynolds and Kaiser establishing training schools at their operational bases even before the production lines were opened.

Outside of the industry, Kaiser recognized the need for industrial training on a larger scale when it provided a grant of 25,000 pounds to assist the existing plans of government for improving technical education in Jamaica. The foundation start for the Kingston Technical High School and the St. Elizabeth Technical High School can be credited to this grant. And the opening of Jamaicaʼs largest alumina plant

ALPART was preceded by the establishment of the Alpart Training Centre for Industrial Skills set up on site by the Dunwoody Institute of Minnesota in 1967.

Kaiser Bauxite on the north coast brought training to new heights when the company sponsored bachelorsʼ and mastersʼ degree courses in management skills for its supervisory and management employees through a partnership with the Nova University of Florida. The classes were conducted offcampus in the Kaiser Canteen on week-ends.

Noranda Bauxite has kept the mantra alive with the recent building of two community skills training centres serving community residents in the mines and plant operating areas.

The current mobile equipment training programme recognizes the importance of continuous training for workers in the bauxite industry.