Developing Mining Leaders Of Tomorrow

Surface mining industry association ASPASA has put out an urgent call to its members to sign-up recently qualified engineers with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) in order to identify and register young leaders of tomorrow.

ASPASA director, Nico Pienaar, says the association wants to contribute, educate and train young engineers through its Young Professional Association Drive. He says ECSA is the only recognized engineering regulatory body in South Africa and its drive to register engineers dovetails perfectly with the associations’ objectives.

ASPASA wants to treat this with urgency by connecting young professionals and ECSA in order to ensure their development with access to training and information to further their careers. The association is registering with ECSA and other professional bodies in other disciplines to further the professionalism of the industry.

Peer review

“Engineers in our member companies should let us have the names, registration number and contact details of individuals wishing to sign-up. ECSA, in partnership with government and academic institutions, seek to promote a high level of education and training of engineering practitioners to facilitate full recognition of professionalism in engineering, both locally and abroad.

“The acknowledgement by other professions gives a wide spectrum of stakeholders a measure of protection and peace of mind in the persons’ training and engineering abilities. Registration with ECSA is paramount, with one of the main benefits being peer recognition, which assures the public that an engineer’s competence has been assessed by other professionals, who are knowledgeable in their fields of expertise.

“This kind of recognition is important as it demonstrates that the individual has met numerous criteria to become a certified engineer and shows a level of commitment to the council’s own objectives,” says Nico.

Sterling reputation

He adds that ASPASA has an excellent reputation among its peers in South Africa, as well as internationally through its membership of the Global Aggregates Industry Network (GAIN) and is a leader in implementing its own strict standards in the fields of safety, health and environment, as well as technical, quality and other initiatives.

These are important factors to consider when starting a career and seeking employment with ASPASA member companies. It ensures individuals work within the confines of these world leading programmes. Young engineers therefore have a bright career path ahead of them when working at ASPASA member companies.

Membership of professional bodies also ensures sustained development of the person through continued professional development (CPD) programs in order to stay up to date and relevant with changes in the industry.

Fresh approaches

“The contribution that these young engineers can bring is incredible and we want to ensure that they keep learning and develop within the industry to become great leaders of tomorrow,” Nico concludes.

www.aspasa.co.za