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Meet Andre Botes | GetSmarter Notable Achiever
In recognition of students who stand out from the crowd, GetSmarter’s Notable Achievers campaign highlights a top-performing student each week.
Andre was chosen by our Student Success Team because he has surpassed his goals with determination and hard work and has consistently achieved above 90% for each module he has submitted in the UCT Occupational Health and Safety online short course.
Here’s what he has to say about his experience:
Why did you decide to take the OHS course?
My formal education thus far has been in Engineering, Lubrication, Management and Business Administration. The main driver to take the course was that I wanted to validate my experience in the Health & Safety field. I have been responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining our Safety Management System, and I wanted to give assurance to those entities auditing us that I had not only the working experience to head up the system, but the academic credentials to do so as well.
What were your concerns before enrolling on the UCT Occupational Health and Safety online short course? How were your concerns alleviated and why?
First and foremost I wanted to make sure that we would be getting the best “Bang for our buck”- there are some horror stories out there about courses that failed to deliver from an accreditation perspective. I needed some reassurance that the course content would be relevant, current, practical and challenging. A global perspective was also something that that was quite important to us given our supplier relationships and partnership with international companies. The administrative staff at GetSmarter and UCT were very quick to alleviate any trepidation I may have had and the Saiosh accreditation was the final element to alleviate my concerns.
What aspects are you enjoying about learning online with GetSmarter?
The content of the course has delivered in spadefuls. The fact that I can tackle the modules at my own pace and within the constraints of a busy career has been most valuable. I’m not shy to admit that I had fun along the way as well. The online support, especially from the support staff, has been phenomenal.
How do you plan to use the OHS skills you learned on this course in your career?
I already have. Using the methodologies and approaches to Risk Assessment and the implementation of control measures at the appropriate levels have improved our performance against a very rigorous and demanding Audit by our largest supply partner. The feedback from the Lead Auditor has been that our system has matured, improved and grown. These are dividends I really did not expect to see this soon.
What does it mean to you to earn a UCT certificate?
Well, a certification from an institution as credible as UCT is invaluable for many reasons, not least of which is that it has shown staff at all levels of our organisation that we should never stop learning, and certainly never stop wanting to learn. I’d like to set an example to our employees that learning never stops.
[bctt tweet=”I’d like to set an example to our employees that learning never stops” username=”getsmarter”]
Will you be displaying your certificate?
Absolutely, I’d be proud to! That thing is going into a frame and up against a wall as soon as possible!
Our Student Success Team identified you as being an outstanding student. Why do you think you are a Notable Achiever and what advice can you give to others looking to do this course?
Firstly allow me to say how honoured and humbled I am to have been singled out as such. I guess that it all boils down to hard work and commitment. My work ethic has always been that once you have committed to something you need to display the courage to see that through to the end with unwavering focus and dedication.
Being able to enrol myself on this course has been a very powerful learning experience and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more. In fact, I will be enrolling our Safety Officer on the next course as part of his development. The advice I have given him is the same advice I would offer anyone looking to do this course – dive in, soak up the knowledge, keep looking for opportunities to apply this knowledge and focus on the end game. 10 weeks flies by so quickly. You have a great support base in the GetSmarter Team…. enjoy the ride!