CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 ABOUT INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FUND (ITF)

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) was established in the year 1971 under Decree 47 of 8th
October 1971. The provision of the decree empowers the ITF to promote and encourage the
acquisition of skills in industry and commerce with a view to generating a pool of indigenous
trained manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the Nigerian economy. The main purpose of
the ITF services is to stimulate human performance, improve productivity, and induce value-
added production in industry and commerce. The Fund through its SIWES, Vocational and
Apprentice training programs, also builds capacity for graduates and youth self-employment,
in the context of small scale industrialization, in the economy

1.2 ABOUT STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE (SIWES)

The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a skills training programme
designed to expose and prepare students of universities and other tertiary institutions for the
Industrial Work situation they are likely to meet after graduation. It is also a planned and
structured programme based on stated and specific career objectives which are geared towards
developing the occupational competencies of participants. Consequently, the SIWES
programme is a compulsory graduation requirement for all Nigerian Polytechnics students
offering certain courses.

The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is the accepted training
programme, which is part of the approved Minimum Academic Standard in the various degree
programmes for all Nigerian Polytechnics. The scheme is aimed at bridging the existing gap
between theory and practice of Sciences, Agriculture, Medical Sciences (including Nursing),
Engineering and Technology, Management, and Information and Communication Technology
and other professional educational programmes in the Nigerian tertiary institutions. It is
aimed at exposing students to machines and equipment, professional work methods and ways
of safeguarding the work areas and workers in industries, offices, laboratories, hospitals
and other organizations.

1.3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SIWES

The Federal government of Nigeria under the regime of the past military president General
Yakubu Gowon initiated a programme by promulgating decree No. 47 of 8th October 1971 and
amended in 1990 which highlighted the capacity building of human resources in the industry,

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commerce, and government through training of workers to effectively provide the needed high-
quality goods and services in a dynamic economy.

However, this decree led to the establishment of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in
1973/1974. Over the years, the ITF has not only raised training consciousness in the economy
but also helped in generating a corps of skilled indigenous manpower which has been manning
and managing various sectors of the national economy.

As part of responsibilities, the ITF provides Direct training, Vocational, and Apprentice
training, Research and Consultancy Services, Reimbursement of up to 50% of the Training
contribution paid by employers of labour registered with it. Also, the lack of adequate practical
know-how and Industrial experiences among graduates and undergraduates of various
institutions of learning was a great concern that led to the formation of the Students Work
Industrial Experience Scheme (SIWES) by ITF.

SIWES is an integral and indispensable part of certain degree programs in tertiary institutions
in Nigeria. As a result, the programme bridges the gap between theoretical and practical works;
thus, exposing students to industrial-based skills necessary for a smooth transition from
classroom to real-world work ethics and practices.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

The followings are some objectives of the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme:

1. To provide an avenue for students in higher institutions of learning to acquire industrial skills
and experiences in their approved courses of study.

2. To expose students to work methods and techniques in handling the equipment and
machinery not available in their institution.

3. To provide an opportunity for students to apply their classroom knowledge in real world
situations hence, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

4. To enlist and strengthen employers’ involvement in the education/academic sector and

prepare students for employment opportunities.

5. To facilitate students’ corporate organization interrelationship and good work habits for
future job placement.

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 CHAPTER TWO

COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND

KSM Global Service was established with a vision to revolutionize the electrical and renewable
energy sector in Nigeria. Starting as a small electrical installation service provider, the company
quickly gained recognition for its commitment to quality, innovation, and customer
satisfaction.

Over the years, KSM Global Service expanded its expertise to include a wide range of services
such as the installation of solar power systems for both commercial and industrial purposes,
CCTV camera installations, and comprehensive electrical wiring for residential and
commercial buildings.

Driven by a team of highly skilled professionals, KSM Global Services has successfully
completed numerous projects across Nigeria, delivering reliable and efficient solutions tailored
to meet the unique needs of its clients. The company remains committed to contributing to the
sustainable energy movement by offering cutting-edge solar technology and promoting energy
efficiency.

With a strong foundation in technical excellence and customer focus, KSM Global Services
continues to set the benchmark for innovation and reliability in the electrical and renewable
energy industry.

2.2 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT

Fig. 1: Organization organogram

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1. Managing Director (MD): The MD oversees the entire company's operations and strategic
direction. They ensure that the company meets its goals and objectives while maintaining
financial health and sustainability.

2. General Manager (GM): The GM is responsible for supervising the company's daily
operations and ensuring that all departments work efficiently. They coordinate between the MD
and other managers.

3. Human Resources Manager: This office handles the recruitment, training, and welfare of
employees. The HR Manager ensures that the company has the right talent and maintains a
positive work environment.

4. Marketing & Business Development Officer: This role focuses on promoting the
company's services, acquiring new clients, and identifying business growth opportunities. They
manage marketing campaigns and client relationships.

5. Operations Manager: The Operations Manager oversees all project implementations,

ensuring that they are completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards.

6. Procurement & Logistics Officer: This officer is responsible for purchasing the necessary
materials and equipment for projects and ensuring their timely delivery to project sites.

7. Technical Director: The Technical Director leads the technical team and oversees the
execution of projects related to electrical installations, solar systems, and CCTV installation.
They ensure adherence to technical standards and quality.

8. Field Engineer: Field Engineers execute projects on-site, such as wiring buildings, installing
solar systems, and setting up CCTV cameras. They ensure that projects are carried out as per
design and client requirements.

9. Electrician: Electricians handle the hands-on tasks of wiring buildings, connecting electrical
systems, and ensuring safe and functional installations.

10. Intern: Interns assist various departments while gaining practical experience. They support
engineers, electricians, and other professionals with basic tasks under supervision.

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 CHAPTER THREE

AREAS OF EXPERIENCE

This chapter highlights major activities that were undertaken during my SIWES at KSM
Global Service.

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICAL WORK CARRIED OUT BY THE

COMPANY
Design, installation, maintenance, and repair of electrical systems and products used in
residential homes, companies, and factories are all examples of electrical work. They are
carried out either within or outside the structure to guarantee that lights, industrial equipment,
and appliances operate safely and reliably. It is also based on the wiring of homes, businesses,
and retail establishments, among other things

3.2 THE COMPANY'S ELECTRICAL TOOLS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

I was introduced to different hand tools and measuring tools for field work. Tools are created
to make a task easier and more efficient. Their benefits will be lost if they are not properly
handled, used, and cared for. You must have chosen and used the appropriate tools, regardless
of the type of work to be done, in order to complete your work quickly, accurately, neatly, and
efficiently. It will lower your efficiency and potentially put people in danger if you don't have
the right tools and don't know how to utilize them.

This section describes the purpose, proper use, and maintenance of the more common tools
you'll come across on the job (electrical installation)

3.2.1 ELECTRICAL TOOLS USED BY THE COMPANY AND THEIR USES

1. Pliers: Pliers are available in different types, shape, and sizes. They are also available in
both insulated and uninsulated handles. An insulated handle should be used when working on
or near hot wires. It is also used for cutting big and small wires.

2. Screwdriver: A screwdriver comes in various sizes and with several tip shapes.
Screwdrivers used by electricians should have insulated handles. Using a screwdriver for a
particular job, the width of the screwdriver tip should match the width of the screw slot.

3. Measuring Tools: To measure wire length and other items, the electrician finds considerable
use for measuring tools such as the extension or zigzag rule, push-pull rule and a steel tape.

4. Drilling Equipment: Drilling equipment is needed to make holes in building structure

passages of conduits and wires.

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5. Sawing and Cutting Tools: Saws commonly used by electricians include the crosscut,
keyhole, and hacksaw.

6. Hammers: Hammers are used for nailing an object.

7. Bending Spring: A pipe bending spring is a strong, flexible spring that is inserted into (or
over) a pipe to support the walls of the pipe when manually bending.

8. Insulation tape: Electrical tape (or insulating tape) is a type of pressure-sensitive tape used
to insulate electrical wires and other materials that conduct electricity. It can be made of many
plastics, but vinyl is most popular, as it stretches well and gives an effective and long-lasting
insulation.

9. Multimeter: A multimeter is a measuring instrument that can measure multiple electrical

properties. A typical multimeter can measure voltage, resistance, and current, in which case it
is also known as a volt-ohm-milliammeter (VOM), as the unit is equipped with voltmeter,
ammeter, and ohmmeter functionality.

10. Tester: A test light, test lamp, voltage tester, or mains tester is a piece of electronic test
equipment used to determine the presence of electricity in a piece of equipment under test.
Non-contact test lights can detect voltage on insulated conductors.

11. Fish tape: A long strip of stiff metal, frequently kept on a spool, used to guide or draw
wires and cables through a building. A fish tape is a tool used by electricians to route new
wiring through walls and electrical conduit. Made of a narrow band of spring steel, by careful
manipulation, the tape can be guided through confined spaces such as wall cavities. The goal
is to push toward an area where guide string has been dropped inside the confined space and to
pull it through, so the guide string can then be used to pull through various types of wiring,
such as phone wire, network cables or speaker wire. Fish tape is designed to pull through guide
string only. Using it to directly pull the target wire can damage or warp the fish tape.

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 Fig. 2: Hand tools

3.2.2 IDENTIFICATION OF ELECTRICAL ACCESSORIES AND THEIR USES

1. Socket outlet: A device with protected current carrying contacts intended to be mounted in
a fixed position and permanently connected to the fixed wiring of the installation to enable the
connection to it of a flexible cord or cable by means of a plug.

2. Pipes: An electrical conduit pipes is a tube used to protect and route electrical wiring in a
building or structure. Electrical conduit may be made of metal, plastic, fiber, or fired clay. Most
conduit is rigid, but flexible conduit is used for some purposes. Conduit is generally installed
by electricians at the site of installation of electrical equipment.

3. Coupler: It is a device used to connect two piping together at their ends for the purpose
transmitting electrical cable.

4. Bulbs: A device used to convert electricity into light, consisting of a source of illumination
(e.g., an electric filament or one or more LEDs) enclosed within a transparent or translucent
shell, typically having a rounded shape and designed to be fitted into a socket in a lamp.

5. Lamp holder: A lamp holder is the device for holding a light bulb or lamp. Most light fittings
or luminaires have a lamp holder. For pendant lights it's important that the lamp holder is both
compatible with the type of bullb you want to use and your preferred lamp shade.

6. Cooker unit: A cooker control unit contains both the cooker switch and a cooker socket,
which can act as an isolator. A neon light is useful as it acts as a visual that identifies if power
is being provided to the cooker.

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7. Junction box: An electrical junction box is an enclosure housing electrical connection.
Junction boxes protect the electrical connections from the weather, as well as prevent people
from accidental electric shocks

Fig.3: Electrical accessories

3.3 TYPES OF CABLES AND THEIR USES

1. 1.5mm is most commonly used for lighting circuitry and switches.

2. 2.5mm is most commonly used for ring mains, plug and socket wiring

3. 4.0mm is most commonly used for high power ring mains, plug and socket wiring.

4. 6, 10 and 16 mm are most commonly used for high powered small appliances such as
cookers.

3.4 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS IN ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION

1. Do not wear loose clothing or ties near electrical equipment.

2. Treat all electrical devices as if they are live or energized.

3. Disconnect the power source before servicing or repairing electrical equipment.

4. Use only tools and equipment with non-conducting handles when working on electrical
devices.

5. Never handle electrical equipment when hands, feet, or body are wet or perspiring, or when
standing on a wet floor.

6. Do not store highly flammable liquids near electrical equipment.

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3.5 ELECRICAL HOUSE WIRING INSTALLATION AND EARTHING
During installation of the house I participated in drawing of the conductors through conduits
using draw tape. But also had to chase the wall in areas where the conduits had been blocked
by mortar. We drew conductors and put protective devices to protect sockets of 13A by putting
a 20A circuit breaker. We installed the sockets at a height of 1 foot from the ground and we
used 2.5mm conductors for socket outlets and the sockets were mounted on the patress boxes
which made sure that the sockets were flashing on the walls and we also used spirit level to
level to the position that the sockets are on straight levels.
We mounted switches at heights of 5.5feet from the ground and in each bedroom, we
mounted two-way two gang switches to make it easy and convenient for the client to
switch on and off the lights from different points in the room whereby 1gang was to control
the side lights and another gang to control the main light.

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 Fig. 4: Fitting of conduit pipe

We provided a ceiling rose lamp holder that was mounted in the indoor ceiling in each
room with a 5watts bulb. Angle and pendant lamp holders were mounted outdoor in each
corner of the house and the distance from the ground was 11feet.

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We used circulars whereby conductors were crossing through and other meeting and
mounted the lights there. We also used adaptable boxes for power inlet and outlet
supplying the perimeter walls and electric bell. We also used bend conduits to connect
conduits carrying electrical conductors from the ground to the adaptive box. A 2.5mm
underground cable was laid from the adaptable box that was mounted on the house to the
perimeter wall supplying lights and bell.

We also drew in a conductor of 6mm from the consumer unit to the kitchen area to supply
the cooker control unit and we put a protective device (circuit breaker) of 30A to protect
the conductors that were running the cooker control.

We drew a conductor of 4mm from the consumer unit to the bathroom to supply a water heater
of rating 20A.

I dug a pit of 6feet for earthing purposes, after we placed the earth rod bonded with copper
mart and charcoal to neutralize the ground. We didn’t use salt because the soil structure was
good, but added in more water just for purposes of charcoal dust mixing with the ground, to
neutralize it and keep it warm.

We carried out load balancing of the house depending on the protective devices that were
installed like 10A breakers for lights, 2OA breakers for sockets and 30A for cooker control.
We put a main circuit breaker of 63A to avoid under ratings.

3.6 INSTALLATION OF A 24V SOLAR SYSTEM

We installed 2 mono-crystalline solar modules, charge controller, 2 batteries and an-
inverter. During the installation process, we mounted the solar modules on the roof then
connected the modules to the charge controller in series to give a maximum voltage of 24V
on the charge controller. Which were now connected to 2 batteries of 180 Ah each. On the
batteries we recorded a voltage of 27.5V including the charging voltage. Then we
connected the batteries to the inverter to supply the A.C loads.

3.7 REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE OF STREETS LIGHTS

We used the following materials and tools to repair and maintain security lights; climbers,
2.3mm cable, pliers, climber’s belts and phase tester, and so on.

• Fixing and maintenance commenced by learning how to use and put on climber on the pole.
• We climbed the poles which had faulty street lights and carried out maintenance on loose
connections among.

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3.8 LESSONS LEARNED
• I learnt various things while I was involved in tasks assigned to me in the field that better
widened my understanding of electrical engineering. These included the following.
• Electrical installations of houses require the use of professionals since one of the house I
was assigned to work on was poorly wired. This was because the previous technician used
a wrong cable size of 1.5mm to wire sockets instead of 2.5mm.
• I learnt that the right quotations should be taken before chasing of any house is done.
• I learnt that you can’t combine network and power cables because there will be network
interference since network cables require less power than power cables.
• I learnt how to install and mount different cameras.
• I learnt why mono crystalline modules are the best to use for any solar projects, because
they operate at all voltages.
• I learnt the names of different cables like cat 6 cables, coaxial cables for cameras and
coaxial cables for antennas.
• I learnt how to terminate a consumer unit.

3.9 EXPERIENCE GAINED

• Installation and sizing of various solar PV systems.
• Installation of a cooker control unit.
• Testing of a house with inverted power.
• Connect modules in parallel, series and series-parallel.

3.10 SKILL GAINED

• Installation skills
• Quotation skills
• Mounting skills
• Observation skills
• Quick reasoning skills for fast problem solving at the site.
• Time management

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 CONCLUSION
It was a great learning experience during my 4 months SIWES at KSM. It exposed me to the
society and corporate working environment. It has bridged the gap between theory and practical
learning and also development of an entrepreneurial mindset.

4.2 RECOMMENDATION
Allowances should be paid to students during their programme just like NYSC and not after.
This would help them a great deal to handle their financial problems during their training
course.

The government through ITF should be able to encourage employers of labour and institutions,
to employ students and financially support the undergraduate students undertaking the SIWES
programme in their organizations no matter how little.

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