My final sign off
October 3, 2017 2:32 pm Leave your thoughts
Another summer has come and gone, and I am so pleased with how it went! For my last blog, there are three different points I wanted to touch on. They are all very different topics so I’ll dive right in.
During my last week I got to go up and observe the crane working. Oh man, this was the coolest thing! During foggy days you can barely see the crane working it’s so high up, and it gives the operator a birds eye view of the entire mill site. If I was an operator at Blue Ridge, the crane would be my machine goal. The crane unloads some of the logging trucks coming in and feeds the north and south debarker lines with logs while making sure our lumber stock is rotating. The weirdest thing about being in the crane is how off your depth perception is at first! You think the grapple is closer or farther to the ground than it actually is, and so training and getting use to the maneuvers can take awhile! I’ve included some pictures down below!
Now, I wanted to talk about safety. When working for a company like West Fraser, their number one rule is safety is always your highest priority. Everyone who works here is always looking out for each other and wants their coworkers to go home in the same shape they came to work. In a mill site you’re constantly around hazards, and you’re always wanting to check your surroundings. Because of this, we use hazard assessment sheets before doing any new job were not familiar with. These “spot check” sheets ask you questions such as “are you working in a confined space?” or “are you working at heights and need fall restraint?”. When we notice that there have been more “near misses” or incidents on site, we can start requesting these spot checks be done before every lock out. It really helps everyone slow down, and assess the situation. On top of this, we also have a hazard light that everyone passes by on their way to work. The light lets us know if there has been a first aid in the last couple of days, or if anything has happened that should cause an increase in attention. It’s a great feeling that not only are you looking out for your safety, but everyone at the mill is looking out for you as well.
Finally, I just wanted to emphasize how great a position in Quality Control is. I learned the basics about almost every department on the operations side of Blue Ridge Lumber. It was such a great opportunity, and I know what I learned this summer will definitely help me out in the future with the woodlands department. I wanted to thank BRL for the amazing opportunity to partake in a position like this. To all the other summer students out there interested in how the mills run or operations – I suggest taking a look into a Quality Control Position! I also wanted to thank my supervisor for being such a great mentor and helping me learn everything this year, thanks Rubin!!
Thank you to FPAC for the chance to blog about my summer! I really hope you all enjoyed reading about my summer! If anyone is interested in learning more about how to become a green dream blogger, or what the role is like, leave me a comment below and I can give you a shout back! It’s an excellent opportunity!
Back to the UofA I go!
Cheers!
Gillian