safety & training
FIRST CLASS TRAINING, FIRST CLASS INSTRUCTORS AT MCKINNEY PLANT & SAFETY LIMITED To say that Strabane based McKinney Plant & Safety have one of the best resourced training centres in the country is probably an understatement. The company, originally established solely as a plant hire operation over four decades ago, today conducts a wide range of training courses, delivering essential and soughtafter qualifications with a professional, proficient and personal approach. McKinney Plant & Safety specialise in plant operation and have all their own plant available on site for training; this includes low loaders, mobile and crawler cranes, and wheeled excavators, as well as a comprehensive range of other machinery. They also have a mobile training unit, travelling across the country to deliver short courses on site or at a client’s own premises. While the company has been offering operator training since 1994, the plant hire side of the business began back in 1968 when it was founded by Michael McKinney Snr; he is still actively involved in the running of the business along with sons Mark and Michael jnr. In those early years, the company was heavily involved in civil engineering and public works as well as plant hire but in more recent times
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PLANT & CIVIL ENGINEER
has concentrated mainly on hiring out cranes, with machines available from 25 tonnes to 220 tonnes; it is here where Michael Jnr learned his machinery operating skills. At that time, as with many other operators in the industry, Michael was clocking up a lot of hours on various sites on a range of machines. In those days training and qualifications were not really an issue, but it wasn’t long before health and safety increasingly became a vital requirement.
“Back then there was really no one in the North West offering any health and safety services and anyone who required a card or training had to travel to the CITB training centre at Nutts Corner, or have the training carried out on site,” says Michael. “We had the land, we had the machines, so we set about developing a training centre here in Strabane.” He adds: “We didn’t know how this would work out as it was quite a new venture in the area, but nothing ventured nothing gained, we thought. As it turned out we were working night and day to keep up with demand.
