Introduction OPITO is the focal point for skills, learning and workforce development in the oil & gas industry. It aims to deliver the right skills for the industry now and in the future. OPITO was established to meet industry demand for a competent and competitive workforce. To achieve this it works with industry employers, training providers and higher education providers. Careers for life are now relatively rare in the UK. Individuals now have more varied career options, career progression routes and more opportunities. However, as technology is constantly changing, the workforce requires ongoing development to ensure employees have the correct skills to perform their job role effectively. The oil & gas industry is a diverse sector that operates globally, both onshore and offshore. Over 400,000 people are employed in the UK industry alone with the majority of those employed onshore. Both offshore and onshore environments offer a wide variety of roles from drilling to design, accounts to engineering and HR to PR. All activity within the industry must conform to specified industry standards. These standards ensure a safe working environment for the oil & gas workforce. OPITO develop training standards in partnership with the industry and work closely with the training providers who deliver the courses to ensure that standards are maintained. OPITO therefore plays a strategic role in the oil & gas industry through workforce planning and skills development globally. OPITO works with industry employers to allow employees to engage in an ongoing process of professional development. This helps to ensure that organisations have appropriately skilled and qualified workers to help meet their business objectives. This case study demonstrates how the right people with the right skills ensure that the sector can maximise the recovery of the remaining oil and gas reserves as well as remaining competitive and profitable. Curriculum Topics • Workforce planning • Functions of an organisation • Roles and responsibilities • Roles within the oil & gas industry GLOSSARY www.thetimes100.co.uk Skills: Capability arising from practice and experience. Strategic: Fundamental to a plan for achieving key objectives. Workforce planning: The process of anticipating an organisation’s future staffing needs and then making a plan to fulfill them. www.thetimes100.co.uk OPITO | Roles & responsibilities 77 Roles & responsibilities
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Introduction
OPITO is the focal point for skills, learning and workforce
development in the oil & gas industry. It aims to deliver the right
skills for the industry now and in the future. OPITO was
established to meet industry demand for a competent and
competitive workforce. To achieve this it works with industry
employers, training providers and higher education providers.
Careers for life are now relatively rare in the UK. Individuals now
have more varied career options, career progression routes and
more opportunities. However, as technology is constantly
changing, the workforce requires ongoing development to ensure
employees have the correct skills to perform their job role
effectively.
The oil & gas industry is a diverse sector that operates globally,
both onshore and offshore. Over 400,000 people are employed in
the UK industry alone with the majority of those employed
onshore. Both offshore and onshore environments offer a wide
variety of roles from drilling to design, accounts to engineering
and HR to PR.
All activity within the industry must conform to specified industry
standards. These standards ensure a safe working environment
for the oil & gas workforce. OPITO develop training standards in
partnership with the industry and work closely with the training
providers who deliver the courses to ensure that standards are
maintained.
OPITO therefore plays a strategic role in the oil & gas industry
through workforce planning and skills development globally.
OPITO works with industry employers to allow employees to
engage in an ongoing process of professional development. This
helps to ensure that organisations have appropriately skilled and
qualified workers to help meet their business objectives.
This case study demonstrates how the right people with the right
skills ensure that the sector can maximise the recovery of the
remaining oil and gas reserves as well as remaining competitive
and profitable.
Curriculum Topics
• Workforce planning
• Functions of an organisation
• Roles and responsibilities
• Roles within the oil & gas
industry
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www.thetimes100.co.uk
Skills: Capability arising from practiceand experience.
Strategic: Fundamental to a plan forachieving key objectives.
Workforce planning: The process ofanticipating an organisation’s futurestaffing needs and then making a planto fulfill them.
reporting to a manager.Hierarchy: An organisational structurearranged by levels of seniority with achain of command down whichdecisions are passed.
Chain of command: The stagesthrough which orders are passed downthe levels in an organisational hierarchye.g. directors, regional managers,branch managers, shop floor assistants.
The range of functions and associated areas are varied, yet some
are common to companies across the sector:
• technical – includes a range of engineering disciplines, as well
as geoscientists and designers
• science – monitoring the environment, locating reservoirs and
appraising wells
• health & safety – ensures the working environment is safe for
employees in both the office and offshore environments
• commercial – includes marketing, logistics, accounts and law
• human resources – responsible for employees training and
welfare.
There are a variety of routes into the industry. These include
apprenticeships, university and college as well as from other
trades and professions. OPITO run a highly successful Technician
Training Scheme. The scheme trains apprentices in electrical,
mechanical, process and instrument & control disciplines
commonly used across the industry. As part of the four year
scheme an apprentice trains for two years at college before
gaining two years of practical experience. Apprenticeships allow
trainees to earn throughout their training while gaining relevant
qualifications and experience in their chosen field.
Roles and responsibilities
To ensure employees work as efficiently as possible it is importantto have clearly defined job roles and responsibilities. This isparticularly important in large firms to ensure no part of theworkload is overlooked. In smaller organisations job roles may beless structured as employees may be required to take on a varietyof tasks and responsibilities.
Clear job descriptions and personal remits enable workers tofocus on their job-specific tasks. It allows employees to prioritisetheir workload and reduce the chance of work duplication. In theoffshore environment, where safety is a key priority, defined rolesand responsibilities ensure that workers are competent andqualified for the tasks they undertake.
The roles and responsibilities of each worker are overseen bysupervisors, team leaders and managers. The number of workersthat the supervisor is responsible for is called a span of control.The span of control will become wider as the number ofemployees being supervised increases. For example, an OffshoreInstallation Manager (OIM) is responsible for the complete runningof the rig/platform and is accountable for the health and safety ofeveryone on-board. This means the OIM has a large span ofcontrol. However, a Tool Pusher, the department head in chargeof the Drilling and Deck Crews, is accountable for the drilling staffand as such has a smaller span of control.
To allow for the supervision and management of workersorganisations are divided by layers as well as department orfunctions. The smallest layer at the top of the organisationalstructure has more responsibility and accountability than the largerlayers at the bottom. This forms an organisations hierarchy. Ahierarchy establishes a chain of command. This allowsinformation to be communicated from one layer of the organisationto the next. This information will pass through the span of control ineach layer. An example of this is when important safety informationis passed from the OIM, down through the hierarchy to theTechnicians. All job roles, from geological exploration to humanresources, will fall within a hierarchy.
Control RoomOperators
PlantOperators
ElectricalTechnicians
InstrumentTechnicians
MaintenanceTechnicians
ElectricalTechnicians
InstrumentTechnicians
SupportTechnicians
Specialist EqTechnicians
DrillCrew
DeckCrew
Medic SafetyAdvisor
OperationTeam Leader
MaintenanceTeam Leader Tool Pusher
Offshore Installation ManagerExample of an offshore organisational hierarchy
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Roles within the oil & gas industry
Kirsty, an Administration Assistant is just starting her career in the
oil & gas industry. Kirsty joined a contracting company straight
from school and recommends the industry as a great place to
work. Since joining the company she has begun a business and
administration course. The course is funded by her employers and
gives her the opportunity to widen her knowledge and develop her
skills. It will allow Kirsty to work towards promotion to a
supervisory role. In her current role Kirsty’s main responsibilities
are liaising with customers, organising meetings and booking
travel arrangements for managers.
David is a Reservoir Management Geologist working for a multi-
national exploration and production company. David joined the
industry 15 years ago, after leaving his career as a pilot and
completing a master’s degree at university. David’s role includes
supervising a small team to build and maintain field reservoir
models. It also involves supervising interactions with other
organisational functions such as ‘Well Planning’ to advise on the
placement of new wells, which allow the oil to be extracted.
Although David’s role as a supervisor throws up challenges he
feels he is well rewarded with a good salary and work/life balance.
This allows him to provide a secure future for his family.
Mark has held a number of offshore positions during his 28 years
in the industry. He began as an OPITO apprentice on the
Technician Training Scheme, where he spent two years at college
and gave him a further 2 years on the job experience. Mark now
holds one of the most responsible jobs in the industry as an OIM,
based on a North Sea platform. He is accountable for 120 people
working on the platform and has an operating budget of around
£60 million.
Whilst progressing through the industry he has gained lots of
practical experiences and qualifications including an SVQ in
supervisory management and management of major emergencies
course. Mark enjoys the variety of his role as an OIM and is
looking forward to continuing his career offshore for many years to
come. Career progression at this level would mean moving to an
onshore role.
Conclusion
Organisations within the oil & gas industry seek to extract
resources efficiently, safely and profitably to serve world markets.
To do this OPITO have developed standards which help to ensure
processes meet these requirements. The industry requires
talented and competent employees to ensure these standards are
maintained. In order to do this, as well as employing directly, the
industry often works with a number of contractors when specialist
tasks or increased production demands it.
The industry supports many diverse roles. Not all roles within the
industry require technical or scientific skills. Commercial skills are
also essential for many of the roles based onshore. OPITO helps
to support the industry through its role in workforce planning and
skills development, helping to attract the next generation of the oil
& gas workforce.
The rate of change within the industry is likely to increase over
the next 50 years as the industry extracts oil from ever more
challenging reservoirs in the North Sea and across the world.
To contend with this rate of change, individuals will have the
opportunity to develop new skills and competencies as they
engage in the process of lifelong learning. OPITO’s role ensures
that the oil & gas industry is capable of meeting future demands.
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Lifelong learning: Continuous andongoing building of skills and knowledgethroughout life.