Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) wants to take safety to the highest level as it brings Uijikan thru to the establishment of a Safety and Skills Training Center in its host barangay of Rio Tuba in the town of Bataraza, southern Palawan.
After five years of construction and planning, CBNC inaugurated the Safety and Skills Training Center (SSTC) in Rio Tuba in January.
CBNC, which takes pride in the safety of its innovative plant in the Philippines, seeks to introduce the Japanese Uijikan to Palawan.
Uijikan is a safety center with complete and advanced safety facilities that trains people or employees on safety practices in order to instill a safety culture at the workplace and make it a way of life for every employee.
“CBNC wants to replicate Uijikan in Palawan because we want safety for everyone. Establishing and maintaining a safety center like this signifies CBNCs serious commitment in adhering to a safe workplace and we are up with the challenge of sustaining this facility,” said CBNC Plant Manager Hideaki Sato.
The newly-inaugurated Safety and Skills Training Center is equipped with basic safety tools and equipment. It will soon start basic training and education to employees in Rio Tuba as well as to other interested groups.
“This is only the beginning. We will keep on aspiring that this center will become a center of safety that offers advanced safety skills training in the future,” Sato added.
This February, CBNC will begin sending its technical staff for training in Uijikan in Japan. Eventually, these individuals will assume responsibility for the facility and trainings.
MGB-IVB Regional Director Engr. Glenn Marcelo Noble who attended the inauguration lauded the CBNC and its partner RTNMC who co-funded the Php 42M center for a very noteworthy SDMP & CSR combined project.
He said the project is in consonance with the SDMP mandate to create self-reliant and self-sustaining communities.
“Ang SSTC ay isang halimbawa ng isang project na tumutugon sa layunin ng SDMP… dahil dito ay mabibigyan ng pagkakataon ang mga lokal na residente na magkaroon ng skills at safety training na makatutulong para sa ikauunlad ng ekonomiya at mapababa ang unemployment rate sa Bataraza,” (The SSTC is an example of project that responds to the objectives of SDMP … thru this project, the local residents will be given chance to acquire skills and safety trainings that can help improve the economy and lower the unemployment rate in Bataraza.), said Noble.
Barangay Rio Tuba is considered an industrialized area as it hosts the operation of a number of big companies. Thus, skilled individuals have a great advantaged for employment .
“Thru this facility, we will be able to train and produce competent, highly-skilled and work-ready local residents. We will be able to create employment opportunity that will enhance the living standard of the individuals who will be trained here. This is the core objective of the project, to create a positive change in the community where we operates,” said CBNC Safety Manager Antonio Sanone.
With the opening of SSTC, CBNC is hopeful that the training center facility will be able to serve its purpose at the greatest and will be recognized as the first one-of-a-kind skills training center with a special feature of best safety practices and awareness in the entire Palawan.