Paul’s Monos’ adventure

When Paul Henderson joined Monos’ back in August of 2007, he was just hoping to get his foot in the door.  

Fifteen years later, he’s a superintendent leading teams across the Mining and Minerals North West Region and still loving the work. 

“I’ve just worked my way up over time,” Paul said.  

“Dogman, advanced rigger, leading hand, then into supervisor and now superintendent. I took every opportunity I could.” 

He’s spent most of his time out in the field, starting in Port Hedland and working across some of the biggest mining projects in WA. He’s been part of major builds and upgrades at Cape Lambert, Brockman, Newman and Tom Price. Now he supports the fixed plant PMO division in Tom Price, where he’s proud to be part of a tight-knit team. 

“I meet all kinds of people every week,” he said.  

“For me, it’s about listening. If you take the time to hear people out, work-related or not, they feel like they’re part of something. That’s how you build a team that’s going to succeed.” 

Paul brings plenty of life experience to his role. He was born in Narrogin, spent time growing up in Carnarvon and Northam, and eventually settled in Perth.  

While living in Carnarvon, Paul remembers a major flood that could have ended very differently.  

“I managed to follow our family dog out of the house and down to the flood. By chance, the dog seemed to sense the danger and turned around and headed back to the house, so I followed him,” Paul said. 

“I’ve been told if I didn’t do that, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. I got in a lot of trouble for that!” 

Other than that, his childhood was filled with footy, fishing, building cubby houses, and the kind of mischief that usually ended with a few scrapes and a good story. 

“We didn’t have the internet, so we just made our own fun,” he said.  

“I got bitten by bull ants, had a few punch-ups with my siblings, broke my collarbone falling off a boat. All pretty standard stuff back then.” 

Before joining Monos, he worked in retail and then spent a decade as a state technician in a completely different industry. When the mining boom hit, he decided to give it a shot.  

“I thought, why not try something new? And I haven’t looked back,” he said. 

Paul’s not one to make a fuss, but he’s proud of how far he’s come.  

“I’ve made myself part of the team out here in Tom Price. It’s a good bunch and I’m happy to keep chipping away and see where it takes me next,” he said.  

Fifteen years down, and still plenty more to build.