Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Ask and you shall be given

Just as it seemed there would be little work to do, I am now working for 3 different programme managers on three completely unrelated tasks – in fact I’m wondering if one of them has any relevance for me at all…  In addition to the Bruce P60 Bridge Bearing Access Platforms (I’ve written the SOR which is now being reviewed by the Programme Manager) I am working on the following:

Study into the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) platform POB (Persons on Board).  Prior to putting more accommodation modules (or similar) on the ETAP platform I have been tasked with working out what the addition of manpower would mean – more lifeboats (certainly); more kitchen space (probably); increased electrical demand, HVAC, water and everything else (you betcha), another helipad (maybe not).  Presently ETAP can hold 113 POB, so 30 more is a fair increase.  I also need to delve around and see if the figure of 30 is an ‘all-in’ figure inclusive of logistics (cooking, cleaning etc) or if that is for drilling alone, and so more support staff would be needed.  And work out who said 30 in the first instance anyway!!!   Having not been onto ETAP or any other platform yet I’m still not completely au fait with the goings on off-shore, so a recce is definitely required!

Depending on the results of this self-defined study, I might find myself designing new accommodation to go on the platform or doing a cost-analysis of different options – accommodation barges for peak periods, daily commutes or use of floatels.  Although this analysis is not engineering per se, this task (which could end up pretty huge – we’re talking about spending many £ms here) will require me to get involved with many different departments in the SPU (Strategic Performance Unit – I am in the North Sea SPU) and test my critical analysis.  It will almost certainly get me off-shore too which will be good.

ETAP Platform at night 

Runcorn – is it working?  Nine months ago our main design-house contractor, PSN, were asked by BP to expand their engineering capacity.  They did this by forming an office in Runcorn, Cheshire, who now deal with some of our design tasks and other engineering.  But – as I found out first-hand at our team meeting a fortnight ago, the BP staff are rather dubious about its effectiveness.  Here, the PSN guys here can easily be called in for meetings, or chatted to informally, but there is a thought that Runcorn is taking a bit longer, and so steps in Captain Warner to investigate.  This is clearly not engineering, but very much focussed on management of contracts and HR.  Will it be useful for me?  I think it will give me a better idea of how things work/ don’t work and certainly it will build my business acumen as I delve into hours worked and Cost Value Reporting (CVR) by different offices.  Some indications actually suggest that the engineering done there is better than here and that the only problem lies in the cost reporting: maybe all that is required is a restructure and better use of conference calls or Skype – most of us have webcams on our work laptops, after all!  

Other bits – work

Courses completed this week include on-line and face-to-face Management of Change training, something that BP are very big on, having put a failure of Change Management down as a key factor in both the Flixborough and Grangemouth disasters.  I can now start the procedure of affecting any process, plant or people changes on the system. 

This week I also got to wear my PPE, as I watched a rehearsal for a crane lift of a piece of duct.  Yes, really.  This is one of Ish’s jobs that will get handed my way: taking off the old Low Pressure Booster Comressor (LPBC) stack off Magnus and replacing it with a new one.  Every lift of anything <25kg is a big deal offshore, and as I understand it must be done using a crane or similar.  People get very worried that if anything falls off the platform it may come to rest abruptly on some pipeline a hundred metres below, and we don’t want that!

Next week I am away on course all week, completing the 2-day Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) and 3-day Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) courses, which will finally allow me to go off-shore. 

 Other bits – not work

The cycle to work (70-mile round trip) is not pleasant with a headwind in the rain.

Running in the Cairngorms is awesome, no matter what the weather (last weekend).  Scrambling in the Cairngorms is still ‘winter conditions’ as today proved, and outstanding.

And I’m getting to meet some of the local community: in my role of the incoming Adjutant, Capt Warner’s husband, I went for (Queen’s birthday) drinks yesterday at the Lord Lieutenant of Moray’s house and tipped my hat to the local MP, a retired General and various local dignitaries.

Week 2: 11th – 13th April 2012

A short week with Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday off (Liz’s birthday) to make up for Good Friday.  The office is still very quiet but I have at least got a project firmly on my list, and that will start moving with time.  Which leads me to some observations…

Pace of life here is slow.  There is little sense of urgency anywhere, with most people thinning out around 4 pm – although admittedly they may get here before my usual 8am start.  This may be a symptom of the Easter holidays (fair enough), or maybe just that contractors receive a daily rate and can get away with it…

Meetings tend to “go on”.  I had 2 meetings on Thursday, both on Ish’s projects which will become mine as he is away for Phase 4 and departs after Phase 5.  The first was a weekly update meeting on the Low Pressure Booster Compressor (LPBC) stack change around on Magnus.  13 people were around the table and the meeting lasted over an hour, most of which was a heads up on the tail-chasing that is project management – who’s done what, where sew-and-sew is with the other etc.  OK, there were a few people ‘doubling up’ (myself included) but lots of the meeting was re-hashing old conversations and could have been done ‘in the margins’.  – I’d better add that it wasn’t Ish that chaired the meeting, but one of the WGPSN Job Responsible Engineers (JREs) – effectively Ish’s oppo. 

The second meeting was quite an impromptu chat with Tim Eley, the Business Developer for Linjebygg Offshore (LJB) who specialise in alternative crane solutions.  He was bought in to offer a third solution to Ish’s big crane-change project on Magnus that has been put on hold, and may offer a better solution than the current plan which is to use a Heavy Lifting Vessel (HLV) (<$1m per day), and boy did he go on!  He made some good suggestions and suggested a way forward, but then bored us by covering the same ground again and giving us more (irrelevant but impressive) examples of LBO’s previous jobs.  If I was Ish I would have cut the meeting short after 30 mins rather than letting him go on for over an hour, but maybe I’m missing something…

Other things

Townhalls.  I like these.  These are BP’s open briefings, held at all levels, where teams are encouraged to get together for the lead and a guest presenter to bring people up to speed on what is going on.  I attended my first of the fortnightly Engineering Services Townhalls on Thursday, presented by Tom Macartney (Team Leader) with a second speaker from another department.  Although I didn’t stay for the whole meeting, it was good to get fed the information from the top, and he was open to comments from the floor (of which there were a few).  The main part for me was the ‘blueprinting’, or standardisation of the different divisions (ours being the North Sea (NS)) so as to catch the ‘best practice’ – one of the buzzwords I liked as Ops Offr at Minley, sharing Best Practice with 1 RSME and Holdfast.  For us, this means a few additions to the NS Engineering Services Team but there were no real surprises; probably because it was Tom that helper write the Global blueprint!

Jobs – my role.  It is now confirmed that I will be the SPA for the bearing inspection platforms on Bruce, so next week I’ll be chatting to the Senior Structural Engineer, Colin Wilson, to discuss exactly what this might entail before having a free-for-all meeting with the main stakeholders and SMEs.  Looking at the internal BP SOR, it was Colin who instigated the job so I’m sure he’ll have some suggestions! 

After a few hours of IT support, I finally got onto the computer modelling programme so can now see Bruce in 3D and yes, these rigs are complex beasties (Fig. 1)!  It’s so easy to simplify something in your head, but as soon as you look at what exactly is going on, it gets a lot more interesting!  I’m now really looking forward to meeting with Colin on Monday to discuss how to tackle this, and I’ll let you know how it goes.  Clearly what I really need is a recce, so hopefully I’ll be getting onto site soon – but not until I’ve done a week’s worth of courses – with any luck these will be the week after next.  Watch this space!

Figure 1. Screenshot of image of one the bridge linkages on Bruce. From what I hear, the hydrocarbon pipes going 1/3 up the height of the bridge are around the same height of a person.

Figure 1.  Screenshot of image of one the bridge linkages on Bruce.  From what I hear, the hydrocarbon pipes going 1/3 up the height of the bridge are around the same height of a person.

Not sure what happened to the first version so here is take 2…

Week One: 2^nd – 6^th April 2012

Well, it’s good to see that BP operates in a similar way to the Army, by which I mean the following:

1. It takes a while to get your IT sorted
2. Everyone goes on leave at the same time leaving a few people covering all the desks
3. Bank holidays are as sacrosanct as Wednesday sports afternoons

and all is going well.  Having popped into the office last week to meet the Projects and Modifications Team Leader, Paul Mullan, it was good to arrive fresh faced on Monday morning to see that people did know I was arriving, even if there was no computer terminal.  And the printers were down.  But before long, the necessary inductions were done and I had a few documents to peruse through, an SON to have a look at (an access platform for the bridge bearings on Bruce) and I knew where the coffee machine was.  And that was Monday really!

The week progressed well though, with my time spent on further inductions; off-shore medicals; sitting in on some of Ish’s meetings; a Projects and Mods Team meeting; and delving into the world of BP’s North Sea Intranet to find out their methods of working.  I also had a good chat with the Engineering Services Manager, Tom Macartney in a chance-meeting.  A quiet start, but the work will arrive after the Easter break I am certain!

Phase 2/3 role

Throughout this placement I will be based in the Focus Office where Projects and Mods, its contracted engineers and its main contractor of Wood Group PSN (WG PSN) all work.  I’m still not 100% sure of the relationship between BP and WG PSN so shall explain it better at some point in the future.

Once I’ve ticked off the various sea-survival courses I’ll be able to get onto the platforms, although this will be a rarity due to their limit of personnel on board (PoB).

I am working as a Project Engineer in the Projects and Mods Branch of Engineering Services.  Engineering Services is part of the Operations sector within the North Sea area.  At this stage I will naïvely say that this covers topside (above-sea) alterations to existing platforms up to a value of $15m (BP net value).  I might be getting involved with the following:

1. Bruce P60 Bridge Access Platform.  This is to engineer, procure and install access platforms to provide access and maintenance of the support bearings for the Bruce P60 bridge (Fig. 1).
2.  ETAP Accommodation Fit.  I’ve not seen an SON yet but this might be the physical accommodation “bolted” onto the side of an existing platform with its building services and everything else that goes with it.  I am already aware, however, that during the Appraise part of the Common Value Process (CVP), it may transpire that a better option is the use of a floating hotel, or “floatel” as they are commonly known.  For the sake of adding some more pictures, ETAP itself can be seen at Figure 2.
3. All of Ish’s stuff, more of which in a later blog I’m sure, but essentially replacing an existing turbine chimney.  I will be covering Ish while he is on Phase 4, and taking over what projects are outstanding when he finishes Phase 5.

Site Description

Throughout this placement I will be based in the Focus offices where BP, its contracted engineers and its ‘main contractor’ of Wood Group PSN (WG PSN) work.  Physically, this is a two-story building just over the road from the (much larger and more impressive) BP North Sea HQ (NSHQ).

Getting Chartered

I had initial reservations about the amount of in-depth technical work and site experience I might gain from this attachment, but this has been somewhat alleviated having spoken to our Project Services Lead, Martin Fragell.  Martin (covering for Paul this week) is very much involved with getting two of their “Challengers” (graduate training scheme) through a programme that will eventually see them chartered, and we’ve already had a chat about ensuring I can do the right amount of A and B to qualify myself.

To follow

With Paul and more of his Programme Leads back in next week, I’m hoping they’ll decide which job to give me and let me roll with it!