On 19 November 2009, Solar Turbines Australia hosted an open day at its regional overhaul facility in Rowville, Victoria. The event was held to celebrate a major safety achievement in reaching five years with no lost time injuries.

Solar Turbines has supported the oil and gas industry in Australia for over 40 years and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar – a technology leader and the world’s leading manufacturer of natural and gas reciprocating engines, construction and mining equipment.

Solar utilises safety initiatives introduced by Caterpillar to achieve its success. In 2006, Caterpillar launched its Vision Zero initiative that established a goal of zero injuries by 2012 at all of their facilities and customer work sites.

In addition to the safety award, the event launched the new technical training centre, the ‘Turbomachinery Centre of Excellence’. The centre has been designed to train both customers and employees in a formal environment, leveraging the workshop, hardware, technical tools and test cells to provide a more hands-on approach to technical learning.

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The day brought together many customers and suppliers as well as past and present employees. Special guests included City of Knox Mayor, Councillor David Cooper and DBP General Manager System Design and Operation Tawake Rakai.