My name is Jason Brennan and I completed an apprenticeship with Burgess BLA as a Mechanical Fitter in Kalgoorlie Western Australia.
When first starting my apprenticeship, as most kids do when they start out in the workforce, I did not know what to expect or if this was the career choice for me. I moved to Kalgoorlie as an 18 year old in 1999 from a small mining community one year after the completion of year 12 at high school.
The start of my apprenticeship at Burgess BLA was quite overwhelming with the sheer size of the equipment and extensive facilities that BLA had to offer. The first few months involved mainly workshop duties including everything from cleaning, assisting trades people with component rebuilds to training on the use of BLA’s machining equipment, laser alignment systems and measuring tools. Whilst working within the workshop I mainly worked with the same experienced fitters/foreman. These guys would pass on their knowledge, techniques and share experiences that they had picked up during their time within the mining industry.
Trade school started around a month after my apprenticeship at BLA commenced. The schooling was quite involved, but if you gave a bit of effort it was relatively easy to pass and pretty rewarding with what could be learnt during these two week blocks. The apprenticeship training schedule included 8 weeks/modules per year over three years. During this time I met a lot of my good friends from trades school which then branched out to football, social events etc. So after only a few months I had gone from knowing very few people in Kalgoorlie, to starting my new life in Kalgoorlie.
Burgess BLA’s works is predominantly based on mine sites. After learning the basics in the workshop, I was off with the rest of the team to assist with many projects across the mining industry. Right from the word go I was involved with all aspects of BLA’s broad range of site works. Some of the tasks that I was involved in during my apprenticeship were girth gear reversals and change outs, complete overhaul of both swing jaw and gyratory crushers, gas turbine replacement, fan rebuilds, laser alignments of all rotating equipment and mill installations. During this time I travelled to places all across the Goldfields and Australia, with some of the places including Stawell VIC, Adelaide and Olympic Dam SA, Tanami Desert NT, Brisbane QLD and Perth WA.
With Burgess BLA being a specialised engineering company, you have the opportunity to work with a huge range of people/companies with expertise in all different fields across the mining industry. I have been fortunate enough to have worked along side this through out my apprenticeship and a lot of people will never have experienced this.
Burgess BLA signed my trade papers off 12 months early from the original completion date of my Mechanical Fitter Apprenticeship. I was given this opportunity by showing initiative and showing that I had the skills to be a capable trade’s person. Since the completion of my apprenticeship I have progressed from a trades person to leading hand, leading hand to supervisor and to my current position where I co-ordinate all national and international site works for our Burgess BLA Kalgoorlie Branch. Burgess BLA is a great Company to work for and well known through out Australia and internationally for being a leader in precision specialised fixed plant maintenance. All apprentices that complete their trade with Burgess BLA are regarded as high quality trades people, I vastly recommend to any one applying for a position at BLA that the opportunities given and experiences learnt through out their time will be second to none.