Industry Spotlight
Dryer Operator Daniel Cook
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Interview: Daniel CookJob Title: Dryer Operator
Company: Wesbeam Region: Neerabup / Perth How long have you worked in the timber industry? Two and a half years |
Tell us about your job – what is your role?
I monitor the dryer. We feed all the veneer sheets through the drier to remove most of the moisture in them so they can be used later on when they make the LVL product on the pressline. I have to make sure they get dried to the right amount – not too much and not too little. I also monitor the quality of the wood and ensure it is grading it correctly and make sure the machine is separating any sheets with defects in them. The drier is a big piece of equipment – 30m long. The machine runs almost all year round night and day and we process around 15,000 sheets of veneer every 12 hours shift, up to 30,000 a day. It’s non stop. When I leave someone takes over, you just keep going.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
The hours are pretty good, four days, on , four days off. They’ve set it up so the more machines you learn, the more you go up the levels in pay and responsibility. It’s a good reward, and makes you want to learn more.
What other timber jobs have you worked at, if any?
This is my first one.
What is one thing about the timber industry that people don’t know or realise?
Most people don’t know much about the benefits of our product, engineered wood. It’s quite a lot stronger - we get rid of the defects in the wood, and when you glue it all together it’s very termite resistant, much better than standard wood. If the termites get in they hit the glue and it turns them away. Because it’s engineered, it makes it a lot stronger, comparable to steel. It has a good strength to weight ratio, so it’s light but really strong. It’s also environmentally friendly – more so than steel, because it’s sustainable, you can regrow it, and there’s carbon stored in the wood which removes it from the atmosphere.
What would you like to see change or improve for the future of the industry?
I would like the government to allocate more land and resources for the timber industry, so we have more of a selection. If there is a bushfire, it creates a lot of competition for the veneer - and everyone has to take their share if it’s fire damaged. You can still use the wood after a bushfire, but it has to be used within a certain amount of time, otherwise it deteriorates. Before I started they used to only use pine, but because of the limited amount of pine, they started using other types of wood. If we use it all up it takes quite a while to grow to the right size again – so the more land allocated to the industry, the more you can keep the cycle going.
I monitor the dryer. We feed all the veneer sheets through the drier to remove most of the moisture in them so they can be used later on when they make the LVL product on the pressline. I have to make sure they get dried to the right amount – not too much and not too little. I also monitor the quality of the wood and ensure it is grading it correctly and make sure the machine is separating any sheets with defects in them. The drier is a big piece of equipment – 30m long. The machine runs almost all year round night and day and we process around 15,000 sheets of veneer every 12 hours shift, up to 30,000 a day. It’s non stop. When I leave someone takes over, you just keep going.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
The hours are pretty good, four days, on , four days off. They’ve set it up so the more machines you learn, the more you go up the levels in pay and responsibility. It’s a good reward, and makes you want to learn more.
What other timber jobs have you worked at, if any?
This is my first one.
What is one thing about the timber industry that people don’t know or realise?
Most people don’t know much about the benefits of our product, engineered wood. It’s quite a lot stronger - we get rid of the defects in the wood, and when you glue it all together it’s very termite resistant, much better than standard wood. If the termites get in they hit the glue and it turns them away. Because it’s engineered, it makes it a lot stronger, comparable to steel. It has a good strength to weight ratio, so it’s light but really strong. It’s also environmentally friendly – more so than steel, because it’s sustainable, you can regrow it, and there’s carbon stored in the wood which removes it from the atmosphere.
What would you like to see change or improve for the future of the industry?
I would like the government to allocate more land and resources for the timber industry, so we have more of a selection. If there is a bushfire, it creates a lot of competition for the veneer - and everyone has to take their share if it’s fire damaged. You can still use the wood after a bushfire, but it has to be used within a certain amount of time, otherwise it deteriorates. Before I started they used to only use pine, but because of the limited amount of pine, they started using other types of wood. If we use it all up it takes quite a while to grow to the right size again – so the more land allocated to the industry, the more you can keep the cycle going.
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Forest Industries Federation (WA) Inc
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