Part of a record class of female saw doctor apprentices at TAFE NSW Tumut this week are (from left) Hayley Wilson, Kelsey Sheehy, Hayley Hampson and (right) TAFE NSW Tumut forestry teacher Fred Dean.
TAFE NSW Tumut is supporting the rapidly changing face of the timber industry with a record number of female first-year apprentice saw technicians being trained at the campus. Source: Timberbiz
According to Jobs and Skills Australia, just 1% of the nation’s saw technicians are female but the gender balance is shifting, with three new female apprentices being welcomed to TAFE NSW Tumut for their first training session this week.
Kelsey Sheehy from Oberon, Hayley Hampson from Riverstone and Brisbane’s Hayley Wilson are all part of the new cohort, the most female saw doctors in a single class in the history of TAFE NSW Tumut.
The campus is one of only two forestry training providers in Australia, giving apprentice saw doctors from across the nation the skills and experience to forge long careers in the industry.
Meanwhile, Tumut and Tumbarumba are home to a global forestry industry, with nearly 18 per cent of the region’s workforce employed in the industry.
Ms Sheehy, 20, was a self-confessed “girly-girl” at high school and dreamed of a career as a nurse or a hairdresser. But after taking a part-time job as a production worker at Highland Pine in Oberon, she fell in love with the fast-pace and frenetic energy of a timber mill, securing a job as an apprentice saw technician earlier this year.
“I never thought I’d be doing a job like this but it’s such an interesting profession and you get a front row seat to such an important industry,” Ms Sheehy said.
“Saw doctors are a critical part of the industry and it’s great to be working on the machines.
“I’m really proud to be part of the first generation of women coming through as saw doctors.
“This is my first week of TAFE NSW training, but it’s given me deeper insights into how different mills operate and it’s been great to meet the other apprentices.”
As part of their training this week, students were treated to a tour of Visy Pulp and Paper, a world-class facility which produces over 680,000 tonnes of high-quality paper each year.
TAFE NSW Tumut forestry teacher Fred Dean, who also works as a leading hand at local mill AKD, said first-year apprentice saw technician enrolments were at their highest point in the history of the campus.
“It’s such a specific trade and people are realising there’s so much job security in it as we’ll be using timber for many years to come,” Mr Dean said.
“It’s great to see female saw technicians start to come through. Technology has really changed the game in saw technology and it’s now more than just a hands-on trade.”
Saw technicians, also known as saw doctors, are an irreplaceable part of the timber industry, repairing, setting and sharpening saw blades for timber production, often working within fractions of millimetres.
TAFE NSW Tumut draws apprentice saw technicians from across the nation’s timber regions for three, one-week face-to-face learning blocks each year on the campus’s industry standard equipment.
