We need to work together to move towards having a workforce that is integrated and supportive of passing on knowledge. We need to make every effort to find opportunities to share information and learn from experiences.

In an industry like pipelining, there are often several ways to get to the same result - or several ways to get to different, but not necessarily wrong, results. These situations happen all the time when working in technical arenas.

Are you completely confident that you know everything there is to know about pipelining? It is probably fair to say that no one can really claim that. Having an opportunity or outlet to discuss the technical particulars of a situation is important to ensure the continual development of everyone in the pipeline industry.

The first step in increasing knowledge

One of the first steps for anyone looking at improving their own skills – in anything, including pipeline knowledge – is to identify the list of skills they think they should have, or want to have. This can be done individually, as an organisation, or even industry-wide.

For example, the pipeline industry relies on knowledge from many areas of engineering, planning, design and operations. Some key skills expected from a pipeline professional include pipeline hydrotesting and commissioning; risk/safety assessments; pipeline pigging; SCADA and communications; metre quality management; cathodic protection; GIS systems; planning/logistics; regulation – technical and commercial; welding; and materials.

The next step is to find ways to gain the knowledge on these topics. A key source for information on these topics is the people who make up the pipeline industry, who have extensive knowledge and experience which is generally not available in textbooks.

Skilling the industry

The following are recognised as active ways to gain knowledge:

• workplace, through experiencing new scenarios at work; • talent guilds, a cohesive group of people get together to discuss details about a specific topic; and, • formally, through education/training facilities.

Workplace learning

The workplace is probably one of the better places to gain knowledge, particularly on large jobs that should bring in and nurture younger and less experienced talent. However it is recognised that with the disparate, temporary and for-profit arrangements of project teams these days, developing knowledge on the job is not as easy to achieve as it is to write about. But there is an onus on those large projects to contribute to the industry, somehow, in giving experience to those who are new to the industry.

Talent Guilds

Over the next few months and years, it is very likely that informal talent guilds will begin to emerge within the industry. The momentum and enthusiasm for knowledge transfer that has captured the industry in the past year is the catalyst for people to start finding ways to transfer the knowledge. One way is for informal discussion groups about specific, detailed and technical design or engineering issues to develop into groups of people getting into the habit of talking to each other about problems – forming a talent guild – rather than struggling on in isolation. This has to happen naturally: trying to manage a talent guild can destroy it.

Technical Seminars and Workshops

APIA already provides day-long seminars which cover topics related to pipeline issues, and it is important that members of the industry attend these.

Research shows that adults learn best if the experience is interactive and requires participation from the student. Adults do not respond as favourably to the teacher-student mode as children do. Therefore it seems that perhaps a workshop forum is the best way to transfer pipeline knowledge because workshops foster discussions, disagreements and even arguments – it is no secret that there are sometimes scenarios for which there is no single right answer. This may not be satisfying to some people, not being able to have a definitive answer to a question or problem; it might even make some participants uncomfortable. But those who are in the room engaged in the discussion and/or argument, including the facilitator, can’t help but learn a little bit, in a ‘safe’, facilitated situation. This may be a more beneficial arrangement than a pressure-packed project-deadline type scenario and so may be a much better forum to gain the learning with less stress.

Implementation

There has been a very positive response from the industry from people who wish to assist in skilling up the members of our industry. The next, and tougher question is: who is going to participate in the workshops? Where will the training team come from? We need a commitment from companies, managers, project teams and individuals to confirm that the industry is ready to take the next step and invest their time and money in the skilling up of the industry. When seminars, workshops, courses and other learning opportunities present themselves, make sure you are doing everything you can to make them successful learning opportunities.

A new entity for the pipeline industry, Pipeline Industry Professional Education, is commencing in February 2006, by offering workshops, facilitated by recognised industry personnel, on topics like those listed above. The website, www.PIPEd.com.au, provides more information, schedules, and an area to provide feedback or suggestions.