Students from Cummins Darlington completed a health, safety and environmental (HSE) workshop with hands on exercises, as part of their development in partnership with Darlington College. This is the second cohort of students that have undertaken this type of workshop.

The workshops started after a gap was identified, students started Cummins with more theoretical knowledge and a lack of hands-on experience, awareness of safety and the use of tools / workshop practices. Cummins reached out to the college to explore where they could buddy up and bridge the gaps.

Darlington College were keen to help support and have now successfully facilitated Cummins in the delivery of these workshops, which include exercises such as going through basic PPE requirements, machinery, drilling, tapping and filing a steel block, all which aid the understanding of HSE in a workshop environment which creates confidence and readiness.

The workshops are over 2 days, with Day 1 consisting of PPE & Tooling and Day 2 covers Measuring Equipment and tasks within teams; a certificate is presented at the end, feedback has been imperative from all the students as this has helped tweak and improve the sessions.

Alan Lamb, EBU Service Engineering for Cummins said: “It’s amazing to watch these people gain practical experience and be proud of the work they have completed in the workshops. All the students thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on experience, and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship with the college and improving the workshops each year, it’s been great to give back and I want to thank the college for running these courses”.

Carl Ferreira, EBU Service Engineering Leader for Cummins Europe said: “The support from Darlington College has been tremendous, working together has been incredibly refreshing and rewarding, we are constantly improving as each cohort has the training and tailoring the course to cover all needs. We will continue to do this to develop our students, so they understand HSE and the right tools and feel confident in the Cummins workshop environment.

Claire Hankey, Head of Marketing and Engagement at Darlington College, said: "Darlington College are always keen to work with the local business community and provide bespoke training to support them in bridging a particular skills gap they may have.  We have a longstanding relationship with Cummins, and it is great to see industry and education working together for success."