Tasman Employee Completes Trade Apprenticeship

Tasman Oil Tools Australia employee Andrew Ridgwell, 29, who has recently completed his Cert III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade (Welding) apprenticeship program.

Andrew began his employment with Tasman (a leading Oil & Gas service company with operations in Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East) in January 2012 as a welder. During that first year it was agreed that Andrew would commence his trade apprenticeship program in early 2013 to provide a means to obtain a nationally recognized qualification. Andrew enrolled in the 4 year program in February 2013, however was quickly assessed as a “fast track” mature student and was accelerated through the completed program in 28 months.

Neil Killoh, Tasman Australia General Manager, commented on Andrew’s successful completion of his apprenticeship program saying “We are extremely proud of Andrew’s achievement. He is highly skilled, ambitious conscientious and a real asset to our team. It is a reflection of his dedication to his trade and the quality of the internal training programs both here at Tasman and at the West Coast Institute of Training.”

The flexibility of the apprenticeship program was beneficial for both Andrew and Tasman, allowing the off-site training components to fit around the operational necessities of our business and industry. Our investment in training apprentices (and all employees) is crucial to the continuous improvement in our company, ensuring that trade knowledge, experience, skills and best industry practices are continually followed and passed on.

Mr Killoh also mentioned “It gives me a lot of confidence and satisfaction in the team we are building at Tasman and I must commend all our managers, supervisors and senior employees for the dedication to mentoring these students and new employees to our industry.”