40 future masters of the Occupational Health and Safety Audit and Consulting study programme took part in an offline session at the Northern Iron Ore Enrichment Works. During the week, students attended laboratory sessions, practical classes and masterclasses from university professors, trainers and leading practitioners of the enterprise. The students also visited the enterprise's museum and learnt about the technological processes and specifics of the iron ore enrichment works.
The students began the offline session by participating in roundtable discussions with representatives of the company and lecturers to discuss Metinvest Group's HSE strategic directions and policies. Some discussions were devoted to the implementation of EU Directives into Ukrainian legislation, as well as to monitoring and prevention of emergencies.
The lives of employees are of the highest value, which is why Metinvest Group improves and adopts the best global practices to create safe working conditions at its enterprises as part of its business strategy.
– In turn, we at Metinvest Polytechnic teach students these practices, as this area is developing rapidly, and new technologies and mechanisms are being introduced. Our task is to provide students with the best advanced knowledge of quality organization of safe workplace. At a state-of-the-art enterprise, the issue of security is at a high level. "So, together with the students, we had an introductory briefing, got acquainted with the iron ore production and mastered occupational health and safety issues at the training centre," said Volodymyr MAISTRENKO, Associate Professor of the HSE Department at Metinvest Polytechnic.
Yevhen Kharin
After the briefing, discussion and sightseeing tour of the enterprise, the students began the practical part of the session. In particular, the future masters, together with the university's trainers, practiced conducting a risk assessment at the workplace, the specifics of developing an Accident Response and Localisation Plan, working with fire and rescue equipment, and learning a risk-based approach to working at height and with lifting equipment. A separate training discipline is fire safety at work and the specifics of firefighting at iron ore enrichment works.
– Fire safety is an integral and key part of the overall facility safety of any enterprise. "Theoretical knowledge and, most importantly, practical skills at the training site are the key to ensuring that each student receives proper training for independent work at the holding's enterprises," said Hlib DEMCHUK, Associate Professor of the HSE Department at Metinvest Polytechnic.
The students actively participated in each task and discussions on workplace safety. Thus, Yevhen KHARIN, the future HSE master, shared his impressions: "It was really helpful. We not only discussed the theoretical occupational safety aspects, but also had the opportunity to see real conditions and learn practical skills. I am grateful to the university lecturers, trainers and staff of the iron ore enrichment works for this opportunity, for their experience, an interesting tour of the enterprise and discussions during the round tables."
Ilya TREHUB, who is also a student of this educational program, added: "This offline session showed that occupational safety is not only the responsibility of the company, but also of each individual employee. It is important to be prepared for any situation and know how to respond to it in practice. I especially liked the practical part of the session, where we could practice the skills we learned in the lectures. It helped me understand how to apply the theory in practice and feel more confident in future jobs."
