Terry Hunton is one of EnerMech's lifting and scaffolding trainers, currently based in the Aberdeen Training Centre.
Terry began working in the industry in 1976 as a Scaffolder for Stephens and Carter, and continued to work offshore until the late 1990s for various companies in many different locations. Over the years, he gathered a wealth of experience in deck lifting and scaffolding and began to help coach newer members of the offshore crews and developed a real interest in training people.
In the 1990s Terry worked to gain his Trainer/Assessor, Internal Verifier and External Verifier qualifications and began to provide CITB courses in the UK and worldwide, adding further experience, this time in the onshore environment and focussing on scaffolding instruction. However, because of his deck lifting operations experience offshore, Terry was also able to assist clients with a number of other training discipline requirements.
During 2006, Terry joined A1 Safety Training (who were acquired by EnerMech in 2009) as a member of the training flying squad. He worked with many clients, providing a wide range of scaffolding, lifting and health and safety training and assessments worldwide. During this time, Terry enjoyed the flexibility of the work in terms of really providing the client with what they needed:
"I really like to help the up and coming generation and pass on some of the knowledge that was passed to me many moons ago. I like to really get to know our clients because I find that if I can tailor a course for the specific audience – even if it's just specific to their own kit and equipment – the delegates take more interest and are more willing to learn. When I was working in the flying squad there was always a variety as one week I could be on a rig in the North Sea and the next I could be on a drill ship in Angola."
In 2012, Terry was seconded for what was intended to be a short period to EnerMech Aberdeen to provide additional man-power for the increasingly busy training centre. Over the course of a few weeks, Terry became increasingly comfortable with onshore life and then agreed to assist in the Abu Dhabi Training Centre. During this time, Terry's potential became clear and he was offered him a full time placement in Aberdeen.
Since then, Terry has become part of the fittings and fixtures in Aberdeen and has been a key player in familiarising new personnel (both for the training centres and flying squad) with how we deliver our quality training offering:
"Working in the training centres has been great for me although at first I didn't think I would settle into an onshore job full time. I'm involved now with the continual development of course materials, helping the new Trainer/Assessors get up to speed with what's expected of them and I also look after the Aberdeen Training centre in terms of making sure our facilities provide a really good delegate experience."
