‘I learned about every single step of the business. And I am able to experience what it is like on working on site. This has really taught me a lot and helped guide me in my career choice’

The commitment of Fulton Hogan Hiways (FHH) to building capacity within the local road construction industry, recently extended to knowledge transfer to benefit secondary school students.

Having gone through the mandatory safety induction with FHH, five secondary school students from different schools around Suva have been doing attachments at Fulton Hogan Hiways.

The Ministry of Education, through the National Employment Centre and the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF), is facilitating the development of a pilot programme; “Student Employment Exposure Programme” (SEEP).

“The objective of SEEP is to prepare students for life skills training and to develop work ethics and the required attitude to be job ready.

“Fulton Hogan Hiways is the first construction company that is pioneering this initiative,” said FCEF chief executive officer Nesbitt Hazelman.

FHH general manager, Patrick Keenan, said: “In our six-plus years in Fiji one of FHH’s cornerstone philosophies has been to develop local staff.

“We know that we have been very successful in this area and want to continue to be a standard bearer for these types of initiatives. People are at the heart of all we do and this programme really endorses this.

“The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation requested that we be involved in their initiative, and we are glad to participate,” he said.

The students worked with Managers in the FHH office and were also allowed access to worksites, as visitors only, to observe and experience the work on the ground, with FHH staff assisting them with any queries.

Ryan Dyer, of Suva Muslim School, said: “FHH has given us a great opportunity to see how road works are done.

“I learned about every single step of the business. And I am able to experience what it is like on working on site. This has really taught me a lot and helped guide me in my career choice.

“We get to see the importance of working as a team, amongst the FHH staff and between FHH staff with their subcontractors; the need for personal protective equipment to be worn on any construction site; different machine types and their operation on worksites, and the safety rules to follow when operating each machine.”

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