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Stellenbosch University Post-Graduate Medical
Students visit the South African Navy
Article and Photos by Sea T. Sehoole |
Stellenbosch Post-Graduate Occupational Health and
Safety Students (all qualified medical practitioners)
visited the Fleet on 4 August 2010. Dr. W.A.J. Meintjies
led the group whilst the visit was co-ordinated and
conducted by WO1 J.G. Damons, SO2 Fleet Safety.
The Health
Professions Council of South Africa has recently
approved the SANDF as a training platform for registrars
in Occupational Medicine. The reason the SAN was chosen
is because it is unique in meeting specific training
requirements of these students due to the many different
activities that happen in the Fleet. The main aim of the
visit was to introduce the students to the core business
activities of the SAN and the way Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) is addressed within the SAN.
The students at the Armscor Dockyard Electronic Complex
and Management Suite where they attended their talks
The visit
started with an “Introduction to the South African
Navy” talk by Cdr G.W. Kwak, followed by a talk on
Dockyard activities by Mr B. Tranter, Safety and Health
Manager of Armscor Dockyard. After breaking for stand
easy, Cdr Kwak continued with a talk on OHS Management
in the SA Navy and Dockyard.
The
students then had an opportunity to walk through and
visit various workshops situated in the Dockyard, which
allowed them to put into practice the identification of
OHS risks. This was followed by a visit to SAS QUEEN
MODJADJI I and a tugboat ride onboard Tug Tshukudu, and
finally a visit to SAS MENDI.
After lunch
the group proceeded to the SAN Diving School to view the
decompression facilities, which they praised as among
the best in the region. Lt Col J. Truter concluded the
visit with a talk about Occupational Hygiene and Medical
Surveillance.
The
Stellenbosch Post-Graduate students thoroughly enjoyed
their visit to the Fleet and found it an exciting
platform to experience OHS in practice.
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