A message from your E&I leaders, May '22

Everyone, it is hard to believe that we are approaching the middle of the year and about to lock in the budget for the next financial year. It is looking like the current financial year, which ends on 30 June, will be a good one for the Monadelphous business, and our challenge is to keep the momentum going during the next 12 months. 

I would like to start by highlighting some great leadership behaviour on one of our sites. One of our teammates was behaving in an unusual way, which was noticed by his workmates, who escalated their concerns. The team on site followed-up to check on our teammates’ welfare, which resulted in the diagnosis of a serious medical condition and emergency surgery. He is now recovering, and we are in contact and providing whatever support we can. This is a great example of how an “R U OK” moment can personally impact someone for the better. Kudos to all involved. And to our teammate – we hope you fully recover, soon.

Our safety performance within the E&I business unit continues to be excellent. We did have a near miss in Gladstone recently, when our asbestos removal subcontractor cut a live 240V lighting cable. Fortunately, there was no injury, but it did highlight issues with how we were tackling the job. I had the opportunity to attend the safety reset meeting with the work crew and was impressed with the level of personal engagement within the group, as well as the constructive discussion and learnings.  

As we near the end of the financial year, we have several projects on the go and the precontracts team has a healthy list of opportunities, particularly for the medium-term.  

At Albemarle’s Kemerton Lithium Plant (KLP), our E&I package has generated a lot of momentum, and we currently have over 60 people mobilised for the work. We are still hopeful that we can continue our presence on site after the initial scope is complete, which should be within the next month. We expect to finish strong and we have the team in place to do this, led by Zeljko Rezic. 

The team at the Rio Tinto Gudai-Darri Project has delivered a great result, and we have now started to demobilise. We have been working as part of an integrated SMPE&I team and are involved in both construction and commissioning activities. There is no doubt that Craig Wearne and the team have made a difference to the project outcomes for our customer.  

The E&I business unit is also supporting a number of smaller jobs in the Pilbara for Rio and BHP. These include the Western Turner Syncline 2 (WTS2) shutdown at Tom Price and ongoing works at South Flank Project’s inflow infrastructure, with the E&I teams being led by Luke Jaenke and Podge Flanagan, respectively. The Jimblebar Surplus Water Project was also successfully completed and is now demobilised from site.  

Our eastern states operation has kicked-off a new SMPE&I project for Tronox in Broken Hill, NSW, with the project working through the planning of a series of shutdowns during the coming months. Our SMPE&I contract with Newcrest for the Lihir Island Front-End Recovery Plant continues, with a slow start due to engineering delays pushing out the program. 

The E&I operation in Gladstone will have a strong finish to the financial year and looks set to have a healthy backlog of work when we enter the 2022-23 financial year. Joel Genninges’ team has locked in some larger scopes and is working to secure the next stage of the Alpha HPA project. 

We are coming out of an extremely busy period during which the biggest source of stress for the business has been finding enough good people. We have been able to do this, but only because of the incredible efforts of our in-house recruitment team. This includes too many people to name, but you know who you are – on behalf of the E&I business unit, thank you very much! 

From 27 May to 3 June, we commemorate National Reconciliation Week which recognises two significant milestones in Australia’s journey toward reconciliation – The 1967 Referendum and the 1992 High Court Mabo Decision. This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, Be Brave. Make Change, challenges all Australians to be brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can continue to make change for the benefit of all Australians. I encourage you all to reflect on this journey, and get involved where you can. 

Stay safe, everyone, and please remember that the safe way is the only way.  

Stuart