Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Weeks 12 and 13.

So what have I been up to? Nothing particularly new really.

Magnus jobs

I’ve dug further into these so I can become a ninja on all related questions, and this has been informative, digging through P&IDs to find the most up-to-date version, and chasing CTRs so I can get a purchase order for the work. This was not easy as the Runcorn-based JRE was off-shore for a few days, but I caught him when he got back as he dropped into the office. “Oh no, that’s being moved to the Hull office” were his comments on the subject. Cue some mild annoyance, a few conversations and me finding out that Runcorn had tried to pull that stunt, but it was later brought back to Runcorn. This week will I see if that message has been passed on…

All in all though, the work’s going well and I should get out to survey early August.

ETAP ALQ

I’ve tied in with the Renewals team to hear what their plans are, and they’re more than happy for us to progress through Appraise, so it can be compared to equivalent costs of “walk-to-work” (a boat dropping folk off in the morning and picking them up at night) or a flotel (floating hotel that is anchored in and fully hooked-up to one side of the platform for a period of months). The CTR is in for me to sign off and I’ve picked up a handful of points for clarification. The crux of me writing the Appraise and producing a Decision Support Package (DSP) lies on a survey, which is proving next-to-impossible with their TAR starting in August. Presently I’m pencilled in for late July, but not getting my hopes up.

Ish’s LPBC exhaust stacks

Ish’s beloved exhaust stack segments were at ASCO’s holding yard in Peterhead today, so we went to have a look at the assembly rehearsals before they’re taken out for the forthcoming TAR. This reminded me of a “Weeks 1-5” platoon harbour area rehearsal, as the staff p*ssed about in super-slow time working out what went where. The lifting bridles weren’t numbered which led to some confusion and only two members of staff were allowed to operate the spanners. (21mm hand spanners; they didn’t have air/electric ‘drivers). Oh, and not all the holes on the flanges lined up with the bridle holes either. Oops. The smoking policy for the site was “it’s OK if you’re not inside a building”, and so fags were hanging out of their mouths most of the time, and I had to ask one of the (many) supervisors why the guys in the cherrypicker were wearing harnesses and landyards if they weren’t clipping them in before anything was done about it. Fortunately, things got done in the end and, importantly, the parts are now ready to go.

I’ll be covering this for Ish while he’s back for Phase 4, so will get a full handover this coming week.

Bunkering lines for the Magnus flotel

I asked for more work, and just before Hugh (programme manager) left for his holidays, an SOR appeared in my inbox for me to investigate, review and re-issue. On inspection, this is a survey and modification of the bunkering lines for potable water and fuel oil that are required when a flotel docks with a platform. More in due course, avid readers!

And in far more interesting other news…

Celtman 2012

I raised over £2,000 (inclusive of gift aid) for Combat Stress last weekend by completing the inaugural Celtman event on the West coast of Scotland. This consisted of a 2 mile jellyfish-riddled swim (reduced from 2.4 as the water was just 11 degrees), 125 mile cycle (that was an utter ballbag; most unpleasant as I’ve not been able to fit in many long rides) and a mountain marathon (that was pretty easy in comparison). Everyone at work was incredibly supportive and it turned out to be a very easy way to get known around the place! More information on that at www.justgiving.com/chriswarner