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Case Study

Name: Mark Kirkpatrick
Position: Leading Hand
Company: Wespine Industries
Qualifications: Relief Supervisor
Age: 28

What are your responsibilities as a leading hand?
I maintain safety and ensure efficiency across our production line, which involves organising workers to specific jobs, and monitoring their performance.
There are usually twenty or more people on a shift, so I’m kept busy!

What do your enjoy about your job?
While my boss works upstairs overseeing the factory floor and ensuring we’re meeting targets, I’m on the floor working with other people. If people require help with an issue they might have with one of the jobs, I’ll go and assist them.
I enjoy that hands-on aspect. I also enjoy the team environment and the hours that we work as well.

What is your past experience in the industry?
I’ve worked as a timber processor, apprentice chippy and forklift driver. In that sense I’ve worked my way up through the company. It’s important to have a positive attitude, that way when an opportunity comes along you are ready to make the most of it.

Has much changed in your time in the industry?
I’ve been in this field for seven years, and when I started out most of the work was hard labour, but now the industry is much more technologically advanced and many of the processes have been computerised. The manual labour is much less demanding now.
 
Please note: We spoke to Mark about his career and what he does day to day. We hope you find this useful and interesting – but please remember, that all jobs are not exactly the same and other roles with the same title may be different in many respects. You should confirm all the details of a particular job with the organisation offering it.