Fully grown moustache - looking good!!

As it is now the end of Movember, I thought you would all be interested in seeing Manny with his fully grown moustache! Tomorrow will see him having to shave it off but as he quite likes himself with one he is sure to grow another.

CTS - where your training matters



Fun at our Christmas Party

Twenty of us had fun at our annual Staff Christmas Party held at the Yallingup Maze last weekend. Just over an hour after piling on the bus we were at our venue - I am not sure how much more our driver Sheryl could have coped with as there was really off-key singing all the way!

The events and timing on the day was organised by Amanda from the Yallingup Maze. After morning tea on the verandah she organised us in to six teams of three members - the Pink Skulls, Stars, Sea Creatures (Jelly Dudes), Geckos, Waves and Pitt Pass. One member of our party was the adjudicator watching for cheating from the tower and Manny was the official spectator (not that he saw much, he just couldn't make it up all those stairs!). There was a lot of yelling, doubling back and misinformation bandied about between the teams and I felt sorry for those people not in our party trying to complete the puzzle as everyone sped pass them on the race to the finish. The winning team was the Pink Skulls but we know they cheated somehow! It took them just 32 minutes to complete the puzzle with last place getter's, the Waves, taking 40 minutes. We all agreed that we had the best fun ever!

We had pre-ordered our lunch from the menu so it wasn't long before we were all tucking in and sitting around reminiscing about our exploits of the morning. Amanda then brought us over some puzzles to attempt and some of them were very very tricky! Those that were more athletic played cricket in the park whilst those that didn't want to be defeated by the puzzles kept on solving them.

By mid-afternoon we packed up to leave but a necessary toilet stop about halfway home had us dropping in to see one of our staff members on maternity leave. Just imagine her face when 19 people turned up to use the facilities!!!! She took it in her stride and we were soon back on the bus and heading  to Bunbury.

More food was waiting for us at the home of the owners for those who wanted to stay for a BBQ so the party continued for quite a few more hours. Manny didn't even make it off the bus, he fell asleep on the way home and just kept sleeping until he was dropped back to his Confined Space the next morning.

  

Variety is the spice of the CTS Christmas Party and each year we do something different. Some of the more recent ones have been a Pirate Murder Party, Collie River Cruise with Dinner, Bunbury's Amazing Race and the Etmilyn Diner train. Thank you very much to Karen and John for treating us to this years fantastic day out. But, I can't wait to see what unfolds next year!

CTS - where your training matters

Movember at CTS

Being a predominantly female company, it has fallen to Manny to be the CTS face of Movember.

Helping Sheryl at the November SHREP course

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.

Many thanks to everyone who supports this very worthwhile cause.

This is Manny's effort so far for the month, don't forget to check him out at the end of November!

CTS - where your training matters

Invited but not present at the BNI meeting

I was shocked to discover that although an invitation had been issued for me to attend the latest BNI meeting, that the invitation had not been passed on. Aside from the fact that it would have got me out of my Confined Space, it was a great networking opportunity that I MISSED - plus they have a scrummy breakfast at the meetings!

Imagine further my horror when I discovered that my followers had been asking after me and, through no fault of my own, I had disappointed them. Another member of the BNI, Spencer Signs, gave a presentation on their signage with emphasis on the fantastic benefits to be had advertising on company cars. All of our vehicles have had the Spencer Signs treatment and we have been very happy with the favourable response we have received. Call them on 9726 2250 if you want more details and tell them Manny sent you!

Here are some of the photos taken on the morning - you will notice I am not starring in any of them!!

Spencer Signs and CTS Cars with Owners

3 BNI members show their company cars with signage

CTS - where your training matters

How many photos can we take in a minute? - 11.11.11

The ABC posed the question of "How many photos can we take in a minute?" to capture a slice of history. Due to daylight saving and our multiple time zones it will be 11.11 somewhere in Australia for 10 minutes, which is pretty cool if you think about it!

I will be taking a photo of whatever Manny is up to at 11.11 today and uploading the photo to the blog as well as adding his photo to the ABC Facebook Page. There are some great photos on there already, you should check them out and then come back here and look at ours later!

This is what Manny was doing - he was just hanging around in the Confined Space Entry training area harness just waiting for his students to appear!

Using the harness in the Confined Space Training Facility

Manny's photo has now been updated on the ABC Facebook page - some of the photos are really great, you should check them out and "like" Manny if you do!!

CTS - where your training matters

Goldfields Minerals Processing Project - Rob Brogan, Lead Trainer

Although Manny and I are mainly involved in the training of Confined Space Entry (CSE), Working Safely at Heights (WSAH) and the Safety Representatives Course, other trainers and staff at Combined Team Services (CTS) have skills in different areas. Rob Brogan is primarily involved with our Resource Processing mining clients and is working on a major project to train 40 employees in either the Certificate III in Resource Processing or Certificate IV in Resource Processing from the one site. He makes regular flying visits to the Goldfields (in a very small plane!) to see the students and he sent me these photos showing one of  the bigger "toys" he stumbled across. He was most impressed that his head didn't touch the top of the tyre! Rob's time on site is spent observing, mentoring and training the students and customising the manuals to take in to account the various working conditions and site specific equipment. He is also available at our Bunbury offices on a regular basis for project work and catch-up time with his other students.


I'm just not tall enough

Hopefully there is no driver in there!

Before joining Combined Team Services, Rob worked at the Greenbushes mine site of Talison Minerals as a Process Operator but by the time he left he had also spent time as the Plant Co-ordinator.

Being passionate about safety and emergency response, Rob completed his Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety last year and is heavily involved in his local community having completed his Bush Fire Fighting Training and is a volunteer for his local Fire Station.

He enjoys passing on his knowledge to others so who knows what avenue he will pursue next! All of us at CTS enjoy his Scottish sense of humour so hopefully you will see him on our blog for some time to come.

CTS - where your training matters

Training in Confined Space Entry last week (26/10/2011)

Last week Sheryl and I conducted training in Enter and work in a confined space (RIIOHS202A) for a class at our Bunbury offices. The small class size was great - we had four guys from the same company - so they each spent a lot of time with Sheryl working in the confined space! They did an outstanding job of rescuing me (my size sometimes makes me a bit harder to manoeuvre) and were happy to have a photo taken with me showing how it was done.

CTS - where your training matters