Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Finally got a hold of my work laptop and my user account and things start moving!

The week before last was spent completing my industry safety training. This was composed of Basic Off-shore Survival and Emergency Training (BOSIET) and Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST). BOSIET focuses on what to do if your rig/helicopter burns down and gave a very good insight into the industry as a whole. One of the delegates on the course turned out to be a member of the BP Assurance team who goes out to old and new installations to commission or re-commission the production lines and control systems. Interesting job and I certainly had at least one interesting chat with him about the Deepwater Horizon disaster that I am not allowed to tell you about, but it sounds very much like Project Engineers will be prosecuted for deleting emails after the fact and on the advice of BP lawyers. Welcome to the digital age, I wonder what court cases would have arisen following the Piper Alpha disaster, had email been around then. Computers certainly help in many areas of engineering and, quite rightly y they stand by to condemn also. He is quite busy at the moment as BP continues to automate their installations which should result in a step increase in off shore safety.

The course was an excellent appreciation of the reality of my role as an SPA. These oil rigs are exceptionally dynamic places in that they are a chemical factory,  building site, metal works, hotel and heliport all stacked vertically over 150m of cold North Sea. Even the simplest of changes to an installation can have serious repercussions if not planned correctly and I have spent the last week correlating these two courses to the BP best practices.  There was, however, a lot of dross in the week and I sincerely hope I don’t have to listen to anyone drone on about HASWA 1974 for at least 12 months. On the plus side, I did rather enjoy the heli-dunker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1d1bF5ec4Q&feature=youtu.be

This last week has seen me connected to the BP server and suddenly the world opens up. The BP distance learning portal is excellent and contains a plethora of courses that have begun my understanding of how Projects and Mods works, along with ample helpings of Chris’ experiences.

BRUCE P60 Bridge Inspection Platform

Kerry Scott (Programme Lead for Bruce) has been on leave this last week which has given me time to start getting to grips with this project. With confirmation that it is mine and access to email and documents, the process has begun moving. I’ve been assigned two job responsible engineers, one for Cassions and one for the project itself. This project has changed hands numerous times and has been scoped on at least two occasions  but at present there is funding for about 700 hrs of work which may be enough to take it well into the Define stage. This would see the project designed in detail with constructibility reviews and all of the required hazard analysis. What I need from Kerry this week is definition of where she sees the project and what the next gate is. There is some uncertainty as to whether, in the BP scheme of Appraise, Select, Define, Execute, Operate, the project is actually through the select gate or not.

In terms of funding it certainly sounds like we are poised on the edge of Define, but this could all change this week as Kerry holds the purse strings and she has said previously that she does not consider this project to be that advanced. This project has floated in the ether for the last ten years and so I don’t know whether to be optimistic that this is the time for it to move forwards or whether it will get kicked back into the long grass. Either way, it is on the brink of Define and therefore I will be able to get some good design and general management experience.  The company is also getting to grips with its new electronic Management of Change software (eMOC) and a renewed focus on risk management and so it is set to be a good learning opportunity at the very least.

and in other news…

Hugo had a brief stint in hospital last weekend as he came down with Bronchiolitis, but to look at him now, you wouldn’t believe it! On the plus side, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is probably the best hospital I have visited and the staff were brilliant. Cycling to work is going well and I have found a nice off road route which should save me from being squashed on the 2 miles of rat run that I usually have to negotiate.

I leave you with a dubious piece of advice from Aberdeen County Council…