Paul Cosgrove - a career in Agrichemical Application

Relocating from Invercargill to Wanaka not only gave Paul (‘Cosie’) Cosgrove the lifestyle change he and his wife were hoping for – it gave him a career change too.

After spending 27 years as a forestry contractor in Southland, Cosie, 54, is now a maintenance supervisor at Nichols Landscaping in Wanaka, and is working towards a National Certificate in Agrichemical Application.

The thing Cosie enjoys most about his work is the variety.  He explains, “Every day is different and we do a mixture of local authority and private work, which keeps things interesting.  This morning I was spraying in Arrowtown, then I stopped at our Cromwell store to do some maintenance.  This afternoon I’m working on a sub-division in Maungawera to prepare the site for tree planting.”

Cosie continues, “Qualifications are important because if you’re working with chemicals you need to know how to be safe.  The qualifications help protect you as a worker, and provide an assurance to customers and to the public that things are being done correctly. 

“The National Certificate includes optional strands, which you can choose depending on your line of work.  I’m doing Total Vegetation Control and Aquatic, but there are others in Livestock External Parasites, Broadacre and Brush.

“There are a lot of legal requirements surrounding the use of chemicals and the National Certificate covers these in depth.  It is also a prerequisite for the GROWSAFE® Registered Chemical Applicators Certificate for ground contractors, which is a legal requirement for many jobs.    

“When I was working in forestry I didn’t know much about chemicals, although I was handling them all the time.  I’m really glad there are qualifications now – I’m much more aware these days.  Having the extra knowledge is a real benefit and has helped me no end in my work."

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So, if you’re ready to start an exciting and challenging career contact InfraTrain.   Your nearest  regional manager will help you work out which training option best suits your skills, needs and future career path.

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