Ahead of the upcoming Autumn Conference, IBBC interviewed Will Follett, Vice President of Workforce Development at Restrata to discuss developments in training for the national workforce, best practice and his own observations, based on his experience of working in Iraq and across the wider Middle East and North Africa.

1. How skilled would you say oil and gas workers in the Middle East are, when compared to other major oil producing nations like North America or Russia? Do you think there is a lack of skilled labour in the region?
With many Middle East organisations looking to develop local nationals, oil and gas workers are becoming increasingly more skilled. The knowledge and skill development is certainly well provisioned with training programmes in evidence across the regions. IOCs continue to play an important role in bringing experience and best practice; therefore, knowledge transfer from more developed oil-producing nations is also evident.

2. Do you offer training programmes for your clients? If yes, are any of the courses accredited?
Following our merger with Stirling Group, Restrata now offers a wide range of HSSE training packages for our clients, and have been delivering training across the Middle East and North Africa for over 25 years.

Our aim is to help build our clients’ resilience through effective and cost efficient management of their safety and security risks, and all of our training programmes reflect this ambition.
We are approved to deliver a wide range of accredited training. This includes internationally renowned awarding bodies such as OPITO, LEEA, NEBOSH, IOSH, RoSPA, IQ, Highfield, JOIFF, BCI and ISO. In addition, we deliver safety training modules that are bespoke to the client side and have long-standing management contracts with IOCs to manage and deliver all of their HSSE training requirements on site.

3. What according to you, are some of the key things to keep in mind for people working in hazardous conditions? How do you support clients with staff working in risky environments?
It is important for clients to look closely at both sides of the risk bow tie, conducting an in-depth risk evaluation for all on site processes to develop a full mitigation strategy rather than implementing isolated plans for individual staff and processes.

One of the key strategies is ultimately training of staff — our training programs can be tailored to meet the individual requirements of a company, following support with the full risk evaluation, and courses cover both preventative and reactive skills in order to fully prepare them for working in hazardous conditions.

4. In your observations, what training programmes/skill sets are proving particularly popular in the region, and what does this tell us about the direction of the sector?
There is always a requirement for basic training elements when working on concessions (H2S, PTW, Confined Space, First Aid) as well as more specialist skills based on job function (e.g. Lifting Operations, MHE, Driver Training). However, with a greater increase in aspects of security risk, Emergency Management and Crisis Response have seen an increase in demand.

5. At a time when oil prices are significantly reduced do you think regional oil and gas companies have slashed spending on skills and training? Do you think HSE standards in the industry will suffer because of the current downturn in the market?
As with any downturn, training budgets are one of the first areas to see reductions, yet there have been numerous studies that quantifiably demonstrate the cost savings made through safety. Inevitably, a decrease in HSE Training will lead to a decrease in HSE standards on an individual basis; however, we are still seeing investment aiming to keep workers safe and towards true nationalisation.

6. How do you think the demand for training and certification in the Middle East is likely to change over the next five to 10 years? How do you think general skill levels in the regional oil and gas industry can be improved? What are your suggestions?
Nationalisation programmes will continue to dominate Middle East workforce planning, driven by Government policy that promotes the employment of nationals over expats. As such, the upskill of local nationals and competency-based training programmes will play a huge role in the delivery.

Blended learning will become more prominent with effective e-learning methodologies providing awareness and knowledge, coupled with instructor-led training to provide core skills and practical application. This is a gradual process though, and thus the maintenance and development of international highly skilled and experienced labour still provides the principle route for knowledge transfer.

7. What type of training projects has Restrata delivered in Iraq? What projects were delivered with a focus on nationalisation?
Restrata has been involved in numerous projects that combined evaluation and analysis with the development and delivery of a client specific training programme. These include firefighter training for Gazprom at Badra Field, HSE training for Lukoil at West Qurna 2, English language and soft-skills training for Petrochina at Halfiya, and security training on behalf of BP (ROO) for the Oil Field Protection Force at Rumalia.

In addition, Restrata has worked around the Middle East and North Africa on projects that focused on developing the local workforce, most recently signing an agreement with Egyptian National Falcon to train several thousand security personnel over a six month period, and establish a training academy to support long-term sustainability.

RESTRATA CASE STUDY: TRAINING FIREFIGHTERS IN IRAQ

Gazprom required a professional firefighting and emergency response brigade at the Badra Field in the Al Kut region of Southern Iraq. Restrata was engaged to recruit, train and manage a dedicated fire service, made up of local nationals, a project that started back in 2014 and is still ongoing.

Our approach was to recruit local nationals in the Al Kut area, with the aim of sending them to the UK to our partner, the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh for intensive fire and emergency response training.

Recruitment and selection process took place in-country, where our experienced expatriate fire officers vetted over 500 Iraqi candidates for 70 posts in the initial training stage. We obtained UK entry visas for the Iraqi recruits for their 12-week training course where they gained the knowledge, skills and abilities to operate as probationary firefighters.

They were guided and mentored by an experienced management team, who also introduced specific procedures and protocols for all fire systems including inspection, training, appraisal and HR guidelines.

On graduation, 52 newly trained firefighters participated in further intensive training focusing on specific roles within the fire brigade, before joining the concession in July 2014. The team now consists of both Restrata expatriate officers and local national firefighters. The senior management structure is made up of expatriate staff, and team leaders are bilingual to ensure communication
lines are clear.

The contract will continue throughout 2016, with the intention of replacing approximately 50% of the expatriate staff with local national firefighters, in support of the IOC’s social inclusion programme. The model developed is now recognised by other IOCs in Iraq and the GCC as being a professionally attractive and cost effective solution.

IBBC AUTUMN CONFERENCE IN DUBAI: DOING BUSINESS IN IRAQ

Join us at the IBBC Autumn Conference in Dubai on Sunday 6 November, where Will joins a panel session discussing how to deliver efficient training in situ for the national workforce. He
will also be available to discuss your specific requirements and answer any questions you have on the topic.