Andreas Kilchör

I received a very warm welcome at the university and got along well with the staff. Visiting the workshop of the department of technology was a key aspect because many students had never been inside a workshop before. The students were very interested in matters of occupational health and safety. My goals was to give the students a theoretical background and show them how they can implement OHS in daily life.

Whenever we had practical tasks to solve, the students were very interested. During the 2 weeks we talked about different issues concerning OHS. We started with terms and principals and discussed different hazards in details (mechanical, electrical, hazardous substances, noise, falling, …). We also discussed problems during the purchasing process, maintenance and repairs. Focus was always to identify the hazards, finding the causes and implement measures according to STOP (substitution, technical, organisational and personal measures).

I enjoyed the discussions with the students – even after classes. I also got a good impression of the way of life in Windhoek. In general, as far as I can tell, the students are very motivated. They have good theoretical knowledge, but their practice of this knowledge should be improved. There should be more focus on field excursions to show the students the practical side of things.