PROLOGUE:
Before I began my placement at Darkfield we had a teams meeting discussing how Darkfield is run, the layout of the show and roles we may have. I also got to meet the team and be introduced to another work place student.
This was useful to help me understand what I would be expected of me on placement and ease some nerves I had about beginning this year as everyone seemed very friendly.
SILVER BUILDING WORKSHOP
DAY 1: Meet the team. Wash and sand container.
DAY 2: Clean and paint outer container. Pack inventory.
First Thoughts?
These first two days felt rough because they were both very physically demanding long days in the hot sun. On the first day, my fellow placement student Xander got sent to A&E and was on antibiotics for the week.
This happened because he got harsh container paint in his eye due to lack of PPE at the workshop.
What I took away from this was that in future I requested more PPE and would be reluctant to start a task without the proper PPE in place. I also made sure to do the same for Xander and in this way we learnt to advocate for ourselves more.
ON SITE PREP: DROP IN
Day 3: DROP IN. Set up festoons. Begin to clean mattresses in COMA.
DAY 4: Assist set up. Bleach mattresses.
These mattresses were not a fun task and took hours to bleach the black mould off of them. I requested gloves and a mask but again there was no PPE on site so this is why it was a two day job as I waited gloves (and stronger bleach) though I did not have a mask.
DAY 5:General on-site support
First Week Self Check-in:
I think I found the first week hard for multiple reasons. Long days, with a lengthy commute and hard work with little satisfaction. I also started realising I would loose a lot of money on commuting into work and found it all very demoralising. I had little energy for course requirements and felt that if I continued to work in this way it would be very unsustainable but wasn’t sure how to move forward.
For now, I decided to ride it out and see what the next week would bring.
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