Tuesday, June 30, 2009

From the Ground Up

For the past year AgriSkills has been running a project at Phake Thabeng where we are training the local people to produce vegetables organically. The project is funded by Missio-Austria with funds from the Austrian Development Authority. We got off to a good start with the infrastructure and put up the fence, drilled the borehole, built the reservoir for the water and set up the pump. However when it came to Eskom laying on the power we had to 'wait', so there was a significant delay in getting the vegetables planted. We purchased a generator for the interim but because of the heavy rains in the region we could not get into the project as the soil is very good quality black turf. We are proud to say that after so many delays the project is growing to new heights. Winnie, our associate, is running the project, while Greg, the facilitator, does the training and assists with the infrastructure.

AgriSkills falls under the Drum Beat Group umbrella.

Please visit our website for more information on Drum Beat Academy's Tourist Guide and Event Support Training courses.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Do you comply with OHS?

According to the Amended Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 & 181 of 1993 all companies with 5 or more employees must abide by these regulations.

To know if you comply, ask yourself the following questions:*

  1. Does your company have written documentation explaining the evacuation as well as emergency procedures?
  2. Does your company have adequate fire equipment?
  3. Is the necessary signage indication fire and evacuation routes in place?
  4. Are there adequate trained First Aiders (Level 1,2 & 3)?
  5. Are there adequate Fire Marshalls responsible for the evacuation of the building?
  6. Are there schematic designs mounted to the walls (emergency exits, fire equipment, hoses, smoke detectors, sprinklers, first aid boxes and assembly points)?
  7. Are there adequate Regulation First Aid Kits?
  8. Is there an alarm system in place to alarm employees in case of an emergency?
  9. Have you done evacuation drills with scenarios and written up reports?


If you answered NO to any of these questions, your company is liable and these aspects need to be addressed URGENTLY.

The following need to be in place:*

  • An emergency and evacuation plan
  • Adequate fire extinguishers and fire hoses
  • Necessary signage
  • Trained first aiders
  • Trained fire marshalls
  • Schematic designs on walls
  • First aid kits
  • Alarm system
  • Evacuation drill with scenario training

(*Uni-Excellens)

Go to Drum Beat Academy's Tour Guide and Event Support Training website for more information on our First Aid Training (Level 1, 2 & 3) and Basic Fire Awareness Training courses.