Staff spotlight – Cameron Wright

Introduction

We spoke to CPA Group Baseline Emergency Services Trainer Cam Wright.

Cam is based in Townsville but is a regular visitor to CPA Group Brisbane Head Office (about a week a month) and most particularly, many CPA Group sites.

How much of your time is spent at our sites?

It could be 1-2 weeks at a time. For one client I did 6 weeks straight at one site. It involved a 6-7 hour drive at the beginning and end of each week. I think I do the most kms of anyone in CPA Group!!

What is your professional background?

I joined the RAAF in 1996. I was then a firefighter at Townsville Airport for 12 years. Since 1999 I have been involved in ERT training – so 20 years as an emergency services trainer. I began at a BHP mine site – Cannington – part-time in 1999.

I have been with Baseline on a part time or full time basis since 2012, so even before CPA Group purchased Baseline.

What are your primary responsibilities?

Emergency Response Training. I go to CPA Group sites and do skills maintenance training for CPA Group ESOs and for client ERTs. I do emergency response consulting, run mock exercises etc

What CPA Group manpower sites have you worked at?

Curragh, Rolleston, Baralaba, Foxleigh amongst others

What non-manpower clients have you trained for?

The main recent one is AusGrid, a Sydney based electricity company. I conducted Confined Space Rescue training and consulted on gas detection. I trained over 30 of their employees and contractors as part of the roll out of a new confined space program.

Another major client is SunMetals based in Townsville, also QNI and UGL which is a solar farm and hydro electricity power station. That site later ended up being a CPA Group manpower site which is an interesting new market segment for the company.

What do you find most challenging or fulfilling in your role?

A big challenge is distance, between my home and Head office and management, travel to sites, operating out of a Striker fire vehicle ca be challenging at times.

Part of my role is to be a bridge between the CPA Group manpower division and the Baseline Registered Training Organisation to ensure training is compliant.

I enjoy the challenge of training a wide range of abilities and experiences – working with  a volunteer ERT member with no qualifications or experience one day and a seasoned veteran the next.

And what do you do in your spare time?

One recent experience was we had to take 6 young kangaroo joeys from Curragh to a Townsville wildlife carer after their mother was run over. We put a photo on Facebook and got an incredible response. So we don’t just save humans.

I once was asked to pick up a dead blue whale calf to take to QLD museum – it was 16m long!

When I get time at home I love to go jet skiing with my wife and kids. We have two daughters, 4 and 1 years old so I have my hands full when I am at home.

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We normally ask for a manager comment but for Cam I think the feedback we get from the clients and his students is more relevant. The people he trains are not easily satisfied and Cam has the professional credibility and personality to ensure that he is well received wherever he goes.

He is indeed an asset to the CPA Group!