The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

THE country’s shortage of qualified elevator technicians could become a thing of the past thanks to a new programme that aims to equip Bahamians with internationally recognised skills in this area.

Don Major, deputy general manager of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BTVI) spoke to The Tribune yesterday at the closing ceremony of a three-day seminar on international elevator safety and codes standards.

The seminar had been running since Monday.

Mr Major said he decided to help co-ordinate the seminar after a leading figure in the elevator industry told him about the country’s lack of qualified technicians.

He said: “Mr Tygh, of Bahamas Elevator Systems (BES), came to us with a problem over lack of qualified persons who could deal with elevators in the country, many of which are old and have not been inspected in some time.

“The Ministry of Works only staffs two persons who conduct inspections in the Bahamas and the elevator companies are so lacking in technicians that they sometimes have to hire persons from other companies.

“We therefore came up with an internationally certified seminar for technicians and persons who deal with elevators in the country, the main message of the program being safety.

“There is only one Bahamian internationally certified as a technician so he could go anywhere in the world and work. Our goal is to ensure that after the next stage of our programme, 15 to 25 certified persons could enter the workforce, helping to ensure the safety of elevators because we know a crisis could even affect our tourism industry.”

Twenty-three technicians participated in this week’s seminar.

“Safety is integral with the work we all do,” said Geet Ramsamoo, guest instructor at the seminar, who hails from Canada and has 30 years experience as an instructor on elevator safety.

He said: “Safety has to be integrated and considered simultaneously with the work we do. We brought to the attention of the participants that there are international standards and codes governing elevators and escalators around the world so even though practices might vary, there are standards that we must all hold to.”

One of the participants, Dave Neymour, is an engineer and the contracted facilities manager at the National Insurance Board.

He said: “There is a problem nationally with technically certified persons. The elevator industry needs persons who are certified and qualified to work on them and to ensure they are well maintained and protected.”

“The seminar opened my eyes to improvements we could make in our jobs, including data collection to ensure the contraction entities have notified us of their arrivals” said another participant, Cleavon Nixon, 34.

Craig Delancy, building controller for the Ministry of Works, confirmed that the country only has two inspectors and said more help would be welcome.

“We have two officers who are certified elevator inspectors who every year attend international certification courses to keep up to date with the modern trends and processes involved with elevators,” he said.

“There are 2,000 elevators throughout the islands that are supposed to be inspected at least once annually although some jurisdictions are inspected twice. It is our job to inspect the elevators to ensure that they are functioning properly and to give our reports to the local elevator companies who have maintenance contracts with places who have elevators for public use. However, we could always use additional qualified persons to help with our inspections.”

Mr Major, of BAIC, said: “We are hoping that out of this programme the Ministry of Works can get seven to 10 persons to work as inspectors. The programme is good news for Bahamians because those who don’t want to be doctors or lawyers have another career option. They could be elevator technicians because it involves mechanics and other technology and with their training, the salary could be very attractive.”