Shane Rich from MPL Training shares the latest news from the team.
It has been a busy few months for the MPL Training Centre team as we have expanded our training across Australia and overseas.
Our year began with our head senior trainer and entomologist Gary Cochrane being invited by Flick Hygiene in Suva to undertake an audit of a recently acquired site. Gary spent time providing technical advice on auditing requirements, investigating and identifying pest species and outlining management options that would allow the site to become compliant with contractual arrangements. Gary’s vast industry knowledge proved invaluable to the team at Flick Hygiene Fiji.
After seven days of investigation, he was able to leave the team in good hands with a greater understanding of how to interpret audit documentation and collate data to implement a successful strategy to gain practical outcomes.
As for the rest of the team, we have been refining our online theory platform and practical training documents. Formitize was introduced to save time writing in booklets at practical and assessment training venues and this shift to digital learning has been very well received. We continually receive great feedback from students who were previously concerned about having to hand write numerous documents. We now run a fast and efficient system that is backed by first class tech support from Formitize.
Version two of our online theory is locked and loaded for a new rollout coming in November. After some speed bumps along the way we are now comfortable for this to be released to enhance the training experience.
August saw the team enjoying a change of scenery with our first trip to Alice Springs. This was an eye opener! If you have not ventured to centre of Australia this is a must-do. The landscape is beautiful, and photographs do not do the scenery justice. It was also great to gain a deeper understanding of the behaviour of some of our most common timber pests – Coptotermes spp. and Heterotermes spp. – and the challenges of gaining control due to environmental conditions. For example, we learned that the dryness of the landscape is overcome by adding water to the ground prior to installation of in-ground stations, then they’re wrapped in cardboard or paper to help keep some moisture around them.
Thank you to Simon Shaw from Territory Pest Control for his hospitality, knowledge and experience over the week. It was then onto Darwin to meet up with some more trainees from Territory Pest Control and Quack Pest Control. It’s great to see companies investing in the future of their trainees by ensuring they are being trained in accordance with current standards.
What’s next? Well, it’s back to Darwin but we are off to a remote indigenous community in Wadeye to train some local first nations people. This is a great incentive by the local government to empower them with the knowledge and understanding of pest management practices.
The MPL Training team will then be heading to China to attend the 10th International Forum for Sustainable Vector Management organised by the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (CPMA) and Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), which will be held on October 14-18, 2024, in Mianyang, Sichuan. MPL has been afforded the opportunity to present at the event, which is very exciting and will hopefully pave the way for more international joint ventures and opportunities.
Dr Deling Ma, MPL Training Centre owner, and I will be the ones speaking at the conference. I will talk about pest management training in Australia and pre-construction termite management systems while Dr Ma will chair the International Termite Symposium – Termite Inspection and Management. Our China trip will include visits to several research and government facilities including the Termite Research Laboratory of Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University (Hong Zhou), and the China Academy of Forestry.
The rest of 2024 will see us taking General Pest Management and Timber Pest Management courses through until December at our three sites in Port Melbourne, Yennora, NSW, and Archerfield, QLD. Courses can be face to face, by correspondence, or a mixture of the two. At MPL we are happy to adapt our teaching to the learning style that works for students.
Shane Rich, Training Manager and Assessor, MPL Training
