IN a bid to improve fire safety and prevention, Hollard Insure recently partnered with the Kouga Local Municipality to pilot an initiative to inspect approximately 700 fire hydrants in the municipality with the help of nine local unemployed youth.
For firefighters, immediate access to a reliable water supply is crucial to successfully fighting fires and preventing loss of life and damage to property.
The initiative, which was launched on September 21, and will run until December 18, will produce reliable data for the Infrastructure and Development Department on areas requiring intervention, as all faults will be referred to this department.
According to Tafadzwa Samushonga, Hollard Insure Head of Strategy, nine young people were recruited and have received training to perform the work required.
This included locating fire hydrants and recording their GPS coordinates; identifying the categories of the hydrants; cleaning, marking, and painting the hydrants; and testing water pressure.
Samushonga said any issues with the hydrants that the learners were unable to repair were passed on to the Infrastructure and Development department.
“As part of Hollard’s purpose to enable more people to secure a better future, we saw an opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of unemployed local youth. We hope that the training and skills they gain on the project will improve their prospects,” said Samushonga.
All Level 1 lockdown regulations, including social distancing, were adhered to and the temporary staff were supplied with the necessary personal protective equipment, including face masks and sanitiser, to ensure their safety and that of the community.
Samushonga said during the first week of the project, the learners completed their work readiness training delivered by Hollard which was geared towards enabling the learners to enter the world of work with essential workplace and other soft skills that increased their performance and motivation.
The training covered modules such as people and team dynamics, time, energy, and self–management, as well as financial planning.
In addition to the work readiness training, the Kouga Fire Services delivered the technical training in which the learners received both theoretical and practical instruction on fire hydrants and the activities involved in inspecting them.
“Once the training was completed the learners were organised into small teams, each with a team leader, and were able to inspect at least 550 fire hydrants with valuable data collected which is incredibly valuable to the municipality’s Fire Services Department,” said Samushonga.
The areas covered thus far are Hankey, Patensie, Thornhill, Humansdorp, Cape St Francis, Oyster Bay, St Francis Bay and Jeffreys Bay.
“We are confident that we will inspect all hydrants by the end of the project on December 18,” said Samushonga.
(Issued: Flow Communications)
