Winter always brings to mind images of a fire place, a warm cup of hot chocolate, a good TV series or book with a cosy blanket. For many of us however, the majority of our time is spent at work, so we leave behind the nostalgia of our creature comforts at home and enter the work environment. At Universal Electro Tech and Universal Switchboards our focus is to design and deliver electrical solutions for your premises bringing innovation to life, seamlessly improving the work environment. Electrical work remains constant, irrespective of the season and downpours of rain, we continue to make progress and August has been a productive month for the team.
Universal Electro Tech have had a rewarding several weeks working on a number of key projects. Our team are currently refurbishing the home economics and science laboratory at Kennedy Baptist College. In addition, we are refurbishing all the electrical and data within Durham Road School Library. There are projects however, that we undertake from time to time that take us down memory lane or pull on our heart strings for the wrong reasons. Sadly, our starting point and first office space at 182 Bennett Street in East Perth suffered widespread fire damage. The team at Universal Electro Tech have been instrumental in carrying out extensive repairs and re-instating power and the data network. Unfortunately, it’s events like this that highlight the importance of preventative maintenance and electrical safety within an organisation, but also give apprentices exposure to dealing with more complex repair work.
We are continuously working with our employees to empower individual development. On the 30th of July 2018, we signed up another two apprenticeships. Luke Zilkens our first new apprentice, is a qualified plumber by trade, currently working as our Workshop Supervisor for Universal Switchboards. Luke is eager to continue to learn and embrace the opportunity of a dual trade apprenticeship, where he is working toward his dream to be part of the Australian Antarctic Scientific base. Simon Tunbridge our second new apprentice is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. Simon left the field behind him due to a knee injury and chose to embark on a career as an Electrician. He has traded out one field for another, knowing he can work in different environments and be mentally stimulated and challenged on a daily basis.
Like watching a flower bloom in spring and seeing its beauty, we are fortunate to observe individuals flourish from the start of their apprenticeship to qualifying as an Electrician. Travis started his career with Universal Electro Tech in July 2014 and qualified as an Electrician in July 2018. Michael joined our team in August 2015 and completed his electrical apprenticeship, qualifying as an Electrician in August 2018. We are extremely proud of both their recent achievements, and look forward to being part of the next chapter of their individual careers as Electricians.
Not only does Universal Electro Tech and Universal Switchboards support apprenticeship programmes, we encourage woman in contracting, fostering an environment of gender diversity. Barriers are often created before a prospective female employee even walks through the door in construction, making it difficult to break into the industry as it is halted at the recruitment process. The only door we close is after the candidate has become an employee, welcoming them as part of our team. Leah is a second-year apprentice who started her employment with Universal Switchboards earlier in the month. In a short space of time, Leah has already shown her aptitude for attention to detail and hunger for success within the electrical industry. Leah will be signed up for her third year of apprenticeship in September 2018. We anticipate in the months to come that Leah will be part of leading the way with maintenance and commissioning of our Switchboards out in the field. We strive to be part of a culture sweeping change across the industry to encourage gender diversity. Part of change for women tradies is breaking pre-conceived ideas, female employees are able to get their hands dirty, they do not want to be a man nor are they trying to be, they are able to do the grunt work to show their capabilities and, physical strength is not a primary issue with occupational health and safety in place, where equipment has been brought into place to ensure everyone’s physical wellbeing is upheld.
We are fast approaching September to embrace Spring, where a wet August will soon be in our rear-view mirror. Our team have had a successful month completing projects, apprentices qualifying as electricians and a new wave of apprentices commencing. Universal Electro Tech and Universal Switchboards look forward to continuing to provide electrical solutions, that are designed and delivered to your business. To discuss your electrical requirements, contact our team on (08) 9328 9491, admin@universalelectrotech.com www.universalelectrotech.com.au/ or visit our premises at 105 Robinson Avenue, Belmont, WA 6104