Australia's First Qualified Certificate III Female Driller
Claudia Holschuh, is now Australia’s first qualified Certificate III female driller. Claudia, 32, commenced her journey to become a Certificate III Trained Driller in August 2009 as part of a concentrated program for existing worker traineeships. She gained the qualification in October last year.
Wallis Drilling is keen to offer all new and existing employees an opportunity to gain a nationally recognised qualification. Claudia took up the challenge to complete this traineeship with a positive approach to the process. Mentors on site were available to coach and demonstrate the skills required for Claudia to apply the theory in the resource packs provided by DrillSkill Training (the ADIA’s Registered Training Organisation). Site supervisors conducted regular assessments provided by DrillSkill throughout the traineeship period.
Claudia showed a keenness to learn and was eager to tap into the knowledge of everyone at the Minara Resources site (Murrin Murrin Nickel Mine) in Leonora. It was clear from the start that Claudia was going to lead the pack; and was duly rewarded by the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Christmas Eve 2008, with an award for excellence in training.
From the moment Claudia arrived at Murrin Murrin Nickel Mine to commence work in October 2007 as a driller’s offsider, she showed a keenness to learn the job and willingness to go the extra yard to ensure that the job was done right. We very quickly identified her as ’one to watch‘, and when a training opportunity came up, it was natural that Claudia be given the chance to drill. She was a very quick study, learning to operate the blast rigs on site, Drilltech D40K’s and Atlas Copco ROC L8’s and has since progressed to operating the grade control rigs on site as well. With her attention to detail and commitment to working safely, Claudia has progressed rapidly and is now training other new drilling contractor in the safe and efficient operation of our Murrin Murrin fleet.
Wallis Drilling has had great success with female drillers and offsiders in the past and is proud of her achievement and to see Wallis Drilling reaping the rewards of a good training process that has been well implemented and utilised so efficiently by a dedicated employee.
The exponential growth of the mining industry in Australia, particularly in Western Australia, means employers are expanding the demographic of the mining labour force with greater diversity than ever before. The quality of living and working conditions on mine sites are at unprecedented levels of comfort with facilities such as air conditioned gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts and wet messes. These facilities are built in an effort to attract and retain staff who work in some of the harshest conditions in Australia.
A pleasing site in the mining industry is the increase of females in the workforce and an expected growth of 58,000 jobs in the mining industry by 2020 means females will play a key role in filling the skills shortage and evening up the playing field in this male-dominated industry.