Sudbury. NORCAT is excited to announce the launch of the Global Centre of Excellence in Training and Development / Health and Safety – a collaborative Centre focused on developing and providing world-class programs, services and resources to reduce injuries, save lives and enhance productivity in the workplace.
The Centre will leverage and build on NORCAT’s 20-year history as a leader in health and safety program development and administration for the skilled labour industries around the world. Don Duval, NORCAT’s CEO says, “Our new initiatives will serve each of our priority areas, pushing NORCAT to a new level of excellence and capability. We have listened to and engaged our customers and key stakeholders in this process and are very happy with our future outlook.”
As part of the Centre, NORCAT will acquire a mobile, state-of-the-art mining equipment training simulator that will complement and be integrated with NORCAT’s existing in-person and on-line training programs. With the addition of an equipment simulator, NORCAT will significantly enhance its training and development service offerings to meet the growing and diverse needs of the mining industry.
Kelly Strong, Vice President of Vale’s Ontario operations and Chair of the Ontario Mining Association says, “From an industry perspective, Vale is excited to partner with NORCAT, Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations – a Glencore Company, and KGHM International on this state-of-the-art project. We applaud NORCAT’s commitment, and the commitment of the Ontario government, to invest in this proven training technology. This brings NORCAT to a whole new level of excellence to serve the Canadian mining industry by ensuring workers are effectively trained to work as safely as possible.”
NORCAT is also excited to announce further investment and expansion in the NORCAT Underground Training Centre - NORCAT’s operating mine that is used for hands-on training and development for would-be or existing mine workers. With new facilities and equipment, NORCAT will provide enhanced underground mine training programs to allow workers to acquire the knowledge and expertise they require to work safely underground.
As part of the Centre, NORCAT has partnered with Laurentian University through the University's Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH). “We are embarking on an aggressive, yet exciting initiative to really understand the learning outcomes of the work we do in training and development across broad demographics,” says Duval.
Dr. Tammy Eger, Director of CROSH explains the importance of the initiative. “We need to understand what works, what doesn’t and determine ways to better engage people so training is relevant and has value. We understand in a basic sense that people learn differently but it will take a sophisticated initiative to understand engagement and segmentation better.”
For more information please visit www.norcat.org or contact Hailey Short at [email protected].
