It’s scary to think how quickly the time has passed since I left sixth form and begun this apprenticeship. I’m already over halfway through my first year; and have learned a lot already.
Myself and the other Designer Group mechanical apprentice are still working on the 125 Wood Street site – St.Pauls, and will most likely be here for the next couple of months until the job’s completion. Since my last blog I have mainly helped with the testing of HDPE drainage and rainwater pipework – and have also gotten the opportunity to test both copper and carbon pipework. I am happy to be getting experience in testing because it is an important part of the job, and requires you to understand the pipework you are testing – it has also given me an insight into what can cause leaks, and how I can find and rectify them.
I have also gotten the opportunity to work individually, with the responsibility of fireproofing HDPE pipework as it passes up and through each floor – This required me to fix fire stop rings around the top of each pipe on each floor as they pass through the ceiling – in the event of a fire once the building is completed, the rings would cause the pipework to collapse in on itself preventing the spread of fire upwards through the building.
Away from site, Designer Group offered me and the rest of the company’s employees Manual Handling training, which required us to visit the head office and have hands on training, learning the proper lifting techniques individually and as a team – It’s a certificate worth having!
I managed to pass my environmental awareness test at college, and am preparing for my ‘Communications at work’ test to come, which I will have to balance with my Driving theory test!
The apprenticeship is moving along nicely…
Thanks you, See you blog 6.
[author image=”https://www.installeronline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/MITCHELROBERTS.jpg” ]Mitchell Brown was recruited as a JTL apprentice in late summer of 2013. He celebrated his 17th birthday in October. He is employed by Designer Group, which has its UK headquarters in Shepherd’s Bush, London. One day each week is spent at Barking & Dagenham College in Romford as part of his striving to first achieve a Level 2 Plumbing qualification before moving forward to Level 3. Mitchell expects the process to last for four years. A former student of West Hatch High School in Chigwell, he achieved good GCSE grades and thought long and hard about whether to go forward to A levels, before deciding to accept the opportunity of a JTL apprenticeship. [/author]
