Prolyte Group held a three day training course at DWR Distribution in Johannesburg
from 1-3 November. Key Account Manager Europe and North Africa, Date Jonkman
and Ruud De Deugd from Prolyte Group lead the training, focusing on basic rigging
techniques and safety standards in the industry.

“Training is so important in the industry and when working with rigging specifically,
most people are not well educated and end up learning on the job, from someone
who learned from someone else, who probably learned from someone who may not
have learned to do it properly,’ says De Deugd. “That is why Prolyte does these
kinds of campuses, worldwide, just to get more knowledge and more awareness of
the proper way to work with trussing.’

According to him, South Africa is on par with rigging training and standards across
the world.

“In some European countries, there is a big emphasis on safety, for which they
offer special rigging courses, but these are still theoretical courses. In the end
though, the level of practical knowledge is the same worldwide, which makes it
important for us to offer these training sessions everywhere,’ he says.
This is emphasised by Jonkman, who says: “It’s different guys in the same industry
around the world, which in essence makes it the same guys, doing the same thing,
just in different places.’

Prolyte Group offers a variety of rigging courses for various levels of experience,
but their main focus remains teaching basic rigging information with a practical
session. The course offered at DWR was a three day session, with the first day
focussing on basic tips on how to use trussing in a practical way. The second day
saw them speak more about industry standards in general, as well as in South
Africa specifically. Then the final day focusses on ground support and theoretics,
with a practical session to end off the course.

Says DWR Distribution Sales Director Robert Izzett: “This was the first time we had
ever hosted the Prolyte Campus and we were thrilled with the response. We hope to
host this course again, hopefully in the new year, and I believe every person who
works with trussing in the industry should attend. On this particular course we had
both experienced and novice riggers – everybody walked away with a wealth of
knowledge and at the end of the day, it’s all about the safety and doing things
better.’

By Elaine Strauss