Monadelphous Energy BU recently celebrated its 21st shutdown at Gove without recordable injury or high potential incident (HPI), reflecting on the team’s strong culture, commitment to safety, and the factors behind its continued success.
From the start, the crew has embraced a 'one-team' approach at Gove, treating all workers, whether employed directly or subcontracted, as part of a single unit. This approach, which includes providing Monadelphous-branded PPE to everyone, has been key to fostering a sense of equality and teamwork among all groups.
According to Project Director Peter Davis and Northern Territory Operations Manager Bob Howieson, this has led to a positive environment where the team consistently returns for each shutdown.
“Due to the cyclic nature of shutdowns at Gove we have always maintained a contracting strategy of performing mechanical scopes in-house, and outsourcing scaffolding and rope access to third parties,” Peter said.
"When asked why they keep coming back, the answer is always the same—'it’s a great team!'," Bob said.
Maintaining a strong safety record has been another pillar of success at Gove. Visitors to the site often comment on the upbeat atmosphere at pre-starts, noting the active participation from employees, regardless of their role or experience.
Peter observed this during a recent site visit:
"When the youngest person at the pre-start, an 18-year-old trades assistant, has the confidence to speak up and reflect on what went well and what could be improved, you know you’re doing it right,” Peter said.
Bob also added: “The ‘One Team’ approach extends to consistency of targets, application of our risk assessment tools, and intertwined supervision in support of each other.”
The contract commenced in 2020 with the onset of Covid and border restrictions, when our customer reached out to our Darwin workshop team for assistance. We jumped into action, even arranging charter flights to travel between permissible locations to meet required number of personnel.
Looking back on the key factors behind the successful shutdowns, Bob emphasised the importance of maintaining strong, consistent leadership from the Darwin workshop, a unified ‘one-team’ approach, high-calibre supervision and workforce, and realistic targets set by our customer.
He acknowledged that working in an older mining operation comes with its challenges but believes that fostering a positive culture has made all the difference.
"We’ve faced our fair share of challenges over the last four years, but by maintaining a really positive team culture, where everyone looks out for each other and feels confident speaking up, we’ve created a safer and more enjoyable work environment,” Bob said.
As Monadelphous continues its work at Gove, the team looks forward to many more successful shutdowns, driven by the same principles that have seen them thrive so far.