Prue began working in the pipeline industry doing residential conveyancing, and accepted a job preparing easement and land acquisition documents at Maloney Field Services in Adelaide in 2006.
At Maloney, Prue worked on various kinds of different infrastructure projects across Australia, including powerlines, railways and roads as well as pipelines.
Prue started working for Epic Energy in March 2010, and moved to Roma with the company in April 2011 to take on her current role of Operations Support Officer at the Wallumbilla Compressor Station.
Here, Prue speaks to The Australian Pipeliner about the experience of working out on a compressor station, learning the ropes of the pipelines industry and the best aspects to her job.
What are some of the incentives of the job that brought you to Roma?
When I started at Epic, my role was Pipeline Awareness Officer, where I presented pipeline safety information to contracting companies, councils and government departments.
Through that role I learned a lot about pipelines and the industry, and Epic’s role in the industry, but I wanted to learn more about the technical side of what we do. I also really wanted to experience working right on the pipeline, rather than being in an office far removed from the on-the-ground aspect of our business.
On a personal level, I wanted to move away from the city lifestyle, not to mention Adelaide drivers!
How has the experience been for you so far?
I absolutely love it. Every day seems to go by so fast. I really enjoy my job and the various challenges and experiences of living and working in a rural community after only ever having lived in the city.
The work we do here is so unique and so important, yet the pipeline industry is quite small and most people are completely unaware of our existence. I find the work fascinating. It helps that the people I work with are helpful and patient, and are always willing to take the time to explain things to me or show me things.
What are the main duties of your role as a compressor station worker?
As Operations Support Officer, I do pretty much whatever is required to support our Field Maintenance Officers in their work. So I do general administration, order parts and equipment, manage the stores and logistics and do the maintenance planning for Queensland. I also do the Pipeline Awareness role for Queensland.
Every day is something different, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy my job so much. I spend a lot of my time doing desk-based work such as maintenance planning, processing purchase orders, ordering inventory, booking and organising vehicle servicing and so on.
But as I’m in charge of the stores I also spend a good portion of my time in the shed or out in the yard, checking stock levels, dealing with deliveries, and generally making sure things are in order.
Are there any new tasks that you have taken on since you took on the job?
The entire job is new to me (except for pipeline awareness). I’ve never done planning, logistics or purchasing before so it’s been a pretty steep learning curve. Again though, the support from everyone around me, not just people at Epic but almost everyone I have come into contact with, has been invaluable and helped me to find my feet much more quickly than I might have otherwise. I’m hoping I can do the same for someone else some day.
Have there been any particularly memorable stories from your time as a compressor station worker?
I have really enjoyed seeing the QSN 3 project come to fruition. It’s something I’ve been involved with to varying degrees for a few years now (Maloney Field Services did the land access for both the QSN Link and QSN 3) so it’s exciting to both see it all in person at last and observe the impressive progress that has been made even in the few short months that I have been working at Wallumbilla.
To be working at Epic during a time of such expansion is a privilege, and looking over the fence every day and watching everything get put together is pretty amazing.
What are some of the most enjoyable aspects of your job?
As I said before, I really love my job and it’s hard to narrow down the things that I like the best. I love working out on site for one thing. I get to experience something that not many people get to experience, or are even aware of for that matter.
The thing I like best about my job is that I am helping the field maintenance officers and making their lives easier where I can. There is a lot of pressure on them to get things perfectly right – it’s not like servicing a car and forgetting to tighten up a few bolts. It means a lot to me that I can assist them and make their days go a little more smoothly.
What one piece of advice would you give to somebody coming in to your job?
If you want to learn, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions. Sometimes asking a stupid question is the only way to learn and I have asked plenty!
I’ve never been ashamed to ask about things I don’t understand and I think that’s really important. It’s such a technical industry and for someone with no technical background, you’re not going to pick things up just by listening, you have to ask and receive a layman’s terms explanation. There are always people willing to help out, but if you keep your mouth shut they’ll assume you’re not interested or that you already know.
Describe your time as a compressor station worker in 5 words.
Best thing I’ve ever done.
