Cranbrook high school students will be getting hands-on with heavy machinery when Project Heavy Duty drives back into town May 4-9, thanks to a partnership between Southeast Kootenay School District No. 5, City of Cranbrook, WorkSafeBC, College of the Rockies, and local businesses.

This four-day program will introduce 21 Grade 11 and 12 students from Mount Baker Secondary School to heavy-equipment-operating jobs in the construction and forestry industries.

On May 4 students will be at College of the Rockies to receive first aid training and on May 7 the program continues with safety training from WorkSafeBC, personal-protective-equipment use from Honeywell, fall-protection training from 3M, as well as a tour of the heavy duty shop.

On May 8 and 9, students will work through ten different stations under the supervision of heavy- equipment-operators at the City of Cranbrook’s public works yard. Students will learn how to operate machinery such as a bucket truck, excavator, loader, dump truck, mobile crane, boom lift, skidder (pictured above) and a self-loading logging truck.

Project Heavy Duty, back for its tenth year, will give students the opportunity to:

• make contacts with potential employers and understand job expectations;
• increase awareness of workplace safety; and
• promote awareness of heavy industry career opportunities in Cranbrook.

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