“The past is where you learned the lesson. The future is where you apply the lesson. Don’t give up in the middle!” Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer.
For me, there can be no doubt that the most important segment of that quote is the final sentence, because in that “middle” lies the opportunity to learn writes Falcon Global Managing Director Alan Mills.
A downturn in the oil industry, compounded by the global pandemic, has resulted in an exodus of experienced people in recent times.
The people who lived and worked through the lessons as they were taught are now making way for the people who will apply them in the future but, again, the bit in the middle is the crux of the matter – we must get the learning right!
When it comes to learning, health and safety should remain consistently at the top of the agenda because regardless of what you are doing and where, people are every employer’s greatest asset and the one to be treasured above all others.
Both here in the UK and overseas, the oil and gas journey has been punctuated by sobering, stark and harrowing reminders of the harsh and dangerous reality of the sector – Piper Alpha, Deepwater Horizon, Macondo and others.
The list is too long. The lasting impact of loss of life is immeasurable to the families and friends of those who have perished, and I believe that, as an industry, the greatest tribute we can pay those who lost their lives is to create a legacy where safety is diligently and unstintingly prioritised far beyond just the oil industry.
To do that, we need to ensure that there exist plenty of opportunities for quality learning and we need to be mindful that the greatest enemy to education is complacency. No employer or employee can ever think it “won’t happen to them.”
I remain strongly influenced by the experiences and events which have surrounded my career in the oil industry, from being part of the project management team that “punched out” the offshore hook-up scope for the Brent Charlie in June 1978. We were part of the very first crew to mobilise there, just hours after the massive, gravity-based structure was deballasted to the seabed and grouted in position following its tow from Stord.
From then on, safety became my “North Star” and today my work remains committed to delivering quality, agnostic training in the UK and USA with an emphasis on Commissioning & Start Up (CSU) education and knowledge sharing. Energising facilities involves risk in getting them started or restarted and it is imperative to mitigate that risk.
With the gradual powering up of assets, this remains in sharp focus in the energy sector but has infinite application into the zone of energy transition and the likes of the renewables, nuclear and carbon capture industries. For me, it’s a perfect example of that quote in practice having learned the lessons and now being part of their application.
© Supplied by Falcon GlobalI’m privileged to be the “bit in the middle” if that means collaborating with others to act as a bridge between the past and the future, helping to keep people safer at work while delivering successful projects.
To that end, Falcon Global is delighted to be bringing an in-person MasterClass CSU to Aberdeen in early September.
First authored in 2013, Alan Mills has delivered MasterClass CSU to over 300 professionals worldwide.
The course is industry-approved, accredited by the American Petroleum Institute and approved by the UK’s ECITB. To find out more, visit www.falconglobal.net.
