First Class Training at McKinney Plant & Safety Ltd

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 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.

Friendly Approach

“We adopted a personal, friendly and down to earth approach, putting at ease those undertaking our courses. The training wasn’t always done at the centre; we travelled all over the country and still do. We worked in conjunction with a long-term friend and colleague Sam Evans of EPS Training who, like ourselves, had the same approach.” Gone are the days when you could simply gain machinery operating experience under the watchful eye of a site supervisor or company owner. Today, unless you have the relevant card and qualification, you wouldn’t be allowed near a machine, let alone drive it. It’s a situation that can be challenging because of the current shortage of competent operators. “We believe that having a basic knowledge just to satisfy health and safety regulations and insurance providers isn’t enough. To be a professional operator you need to know all about the machinery you are driving, what it is capable of, how it should be handled and how it should be maintained – and that’s what we strive to instil in all of those who go through our training courses,” says Michael. It’s an approach that is clearly paying dividends. As one satisfied client said, “It’s best training school in the whole of the UK, with seriously reasonable prices for all NVQ’S and plant certificates. First class training, first class instructors. I will definitely be using them again.” And added another, “I want to thank all their staff for being so welcoming and helpful; they really make you feel at ease. I would highly recommend McKinney’s - great instructors, great facilities, great plant.”

Funding

Mc Kinney Plant & Safety Ltd have funding available to suitable candidates in order to help with the cost of plant training and the upskilling of individuals who wish to retrain into a plant career. This funding comes from a range of sources including the union Unite who at the moment are very proactive in addressing the skills shortage and developing the skills set required to be successful in the industry. The majority courses are grant aided by the CITB for levy paying companies. While the CITB NI have a major role to play in addressing the shortage of skilled operators, Michael feels more could be done for the plant industry, such as the appointment of competent accredited training providers to carry out the training, funding those providers and monitoring the standard of the training carried out to ensure proper standards are met.

Investment

Mc Kinney Plant & Safety Ltd, of course, have invested heavily in plant and equipment for training purposes and they say JCB was an obvious choice when deciding on suppliers. Says Michael: “We have used JCB machines in our own business for a long time and they have served us well, so we approached Dennison JCB in Ballyclare, told them our requirements and machine specs and Ian Calderwood, the sales manager, put together an attractive package to supply us with five new additional machines for the training centre. The JCB machines are very operator friendly and are the most up to date available which, we believe, should be the case as training providers.” He adds: “The service we get from Dennison’s JCB is first class and the back-up is excellent; if in the future more machines are required they will be our first port of call.”