St.Fergus - Part 2

The Frigg Field

Initial source of North Sea Gas to St.Fergus Terminal - Photo taken from CDP1 showing QP platform in the foreground, TP1 to the left and obscured at the back TCP1 - to the right is a 'Semi-Sub' drilling vessel. Some way behind and obscured by the mist is DP1.

Below is a map showing Platform locations.

As I stated in the previous Post the situation was fraught indeed at the St.Fergus site. I found my site office bristling with anger at the conduct of the so-called Blast/Paint squad. I entered the office to find an older man sitting at one of the desks, his name was Roy Walls. His son-in-law was a chap called Terry Johnson who owned a Blast/Paint factory in Newcastle and with whom I was to have a dubious adventure a few years later. Roy was a 'old' Geordie in his 60's, and a real character. He was short, stout with no neck and looked like a Bullfrog with a thick, braying Geordie accent. There was no way he was accepting that I was supposed to be a 'Senior' Inspector and initially regarded me as some kind of young upstart. I gave up trying to 'lead' him and just went with the flow, in fact it was Roy who completed my 'education' and took me under his wing. he taught me all the important things an Inspector needs to know, like how to 'fiddle' your timesheets, 'fiddle' your expenses, 'adjust' the inspection reports, and to get Prawn Cocktails, 'T' bone steaks and drink put onto the Hotel account as 'Lunch'. We developed a great friendship and I regarded him a sort of benevolent Uncle.

There was supposed to be another Paint Inspector but he prudently decided to leave after the 'Fred' incident. For the rest of that shift and the next I could do nothing but ponder over the situation as I did not have a clue what to do. The situation in the 'compound' was getting nastier as the excessive drinking was taking its toll among the squad and fights were breaking out amongst themselves. The 3rd day I asked Roy to find me the 'Contract' documents and I started to study them. Coming from the Car Industry I had a fair insight into 'Unions' and Industrial Relations having been a member myself. That night in my hotel room as I was still studying the documents one clause leapt out at me. 'I have them' I thought !

The next morning I summonsed the Site Manager and the (10) Shop Stewards to my office. They (the stewards) were in a belligerent mood and I was, frankly, very nervous - I stood up and tried to look as intimidating as possible.

"Well Gentlemen ! I have looked into your grievances and find that in some instances you may well have a case". They looked at each other and some of them smirked. I turned to their Site Manager - "Am I correct in assuming that none of your Labour on-site has been 'Trade Tested" - "No I thought not !" as the Site Manager shook his head and tried to fade into the background.

"Well now, before I commit myself to any agreements, I will require to Trade Test every man commencing tomorrow !" at this Roy gave every man in the room a copy from the contact with the clause - 'The Client (BGC) or its Representative (Me) reserves the right to examine and interview any Contractor (or Sub-contractor) Personnel. Any persons not meeting the required standards of competence will be denied access to the Works'.

Uproar ensued ! "You cannot be serious !" exclaimed the so-called Senior Steward. "I am and I will start with you first" said I staring him in the eye. I turned to the Site Manager and told him to set up compressors, blast kettles, spray units and all the paints used on site in a empty area of the compound and he scuttled off to do my bidding with Roy following him to ensure all was done correctly. The stunned 'Stewards' left my office probably knowing they were 'screwed' as I could devise Paint Technology questions that the average 'Brush Hand' stood no chance of answering like:

A) What is the difference between a 'Convertible' and 'Non Convertible' coating ?
B) What is a 'Thermit' reaction ?
C) What is meant by the term 'metamerism' ?
D) What is Sa 2.5 ?

The next day and with considerable trepidation I arrived on-site (I hadn't slept all night). Two things were immediately obvious - the compound seemed remarkably quiet and there was no-one drinking. I was greeted by an excited Site Manager who told me only 140 men of the original 300 plus had turned up and all the 'Stewards' had gone. What a result ! I knew that the men who had stayed were probably confident in their skills and actually wanted to work but I still had to go through with the 'Test' so I took them through 5 at a time but rejected none of them. There was a few who were not up to 'scratch' but kept on as labourers. It took 2 days to 'process' them but by dinner time of that 1st day the happy sounds and smells of compressors roaring, blast hoses hissing and spray pumps clattering once again drifted over the St.Fergus site. In the excitement all the workers left forgot to ask me about their grievances and I certainly wasn't going to remind them !

To say I was a 'hero' with BGC was an understatement, 'Old Batty' rushed to my office 'over the moon' and congratulated me but then like the typical Construction Boss he was, growled a warning not to upset the Welders with too much Blast Dust and Paint Fumes. Welders were the effing 'primadonnas' of the Construction Industry and regarded themselves as a 'superior species' and would 'down tools' if anything offended their precious noses, (yes, you've guessed it, I hated Welders as much as they hated us).

Once 'Batty' had left my office I did what any self respecting Paint Inspector would do, leaned back in my chair put my feet on the desk and had a 'jolly good snooze'.

Part 3 next Post.