Steel Erection

Description

School leavers contemplating a career in steel construction are often pleasantly surprised at how fulfilling and rewarding this can be. There is great satisfaction in being able to look at a building that people use every day and know that you had a hand in erecting it.

Practical: in his day to day work, a steel erector has to know about

Erecting steel structures

Erecting non-notifiable scaffolding

Calculating & slinging regular loads

Working with cranes

Hand signals & two-way radio communications with crane operator

Setting up & using winches for load placement

Fall arrest systems

Maintaining rigging plant & equipment

Maintaining rigging hand & power tools

Workplace first aid

Theory: a certain amount of study is essential so that the steel erector understands

Loading goods & services vehicles

Working with cranes

Plan reading

Trade drawings & calculations

Taking levels on steel construction sites & leveling steel structures

Basic mathematical calculations

How to use Pythagoras's Theorem and trigonometry

Solving problems involving right-angled triangles

Planning, preparing and completion of basic rigging work

Welding steel structures using a manual metal arc

General purpose welding using a gas metal arc

Interpreting rigging industry health & safety legislation

Managing first aid & providing resuscitation in he workplace

Protecting health & safety in the workplace

Communicating in the workplace

Qualifications

If this kind of career interests you, you will need to be physically fit and enjoy working in a team. Having a head for heights helps, though that can sometimes be learned. Probably the most important criterion is your strong desire to succeed.

If you can demonstrate these attributes, there is a part-time course that you can take over two years with Tai Poutini Polytechnic. On successful completion of the course, usually over two years, you will have gained the Tai Poutini Polytechnic Certificate in Steel Construction and the National Certificate in Rigging (Basic).

During the two years, you will be required to attend eight one-week "block courses" or an equivalent of 40 days. Clearly the emphasis is on the development of practical skills, with plenty of hands-on activity.