Outstanding contribution to the industry
In 2015’s awards the honour of the APGA Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Australian pipeline industry was bestowed on GPA Engineering Senior Project Engineer Richard McDonough.
Throughout his career, Mr McDonough has sought to contribute his expertise to the betterment of the industry.
In his role as Senior Project Engineer at GPA Engineering, a position he has held since 2008, Mr McDonough provides project management, pipeline and facility validation and auditing services, and risk and safety management study facilitation services to industry and governments.
Committed to the highest standards of safety and environmental regulation, since 1994 Mr McDonough has been a member of two Commonwealth committees framing regulatory principles and environmental guidelines for carbon dioxide capture and storage, and has also participated in the development of AS 2885 Pipelines-Gas and liquid petroleum, AS 2885.1-2007 Design and Construction, and AS 2885.3-2001 Operations and Maintenance.
He is currently Deputy Chair of the RSC Executive, an actively engaged member of the steering committee for the EPCRC Research Program 4 on the sociology of safety, and plays a key role in managing the research program of the APGA Research and Standards Committee and the Energy Pipelines CRC.
Mr McDonough’s influence as an adviser was acknowledged by outgoing APGA President Mark Dayman, who described the award as fitting recognition of Mr McDonough’s endeavours.
A young achiever
The winner of the 2015 APGA Young Achievement Award was Tim Vesey of CNC Project Management.
Described as “a rising leader in the industry” by Mr Dayman, Mr Vesey has amassed a breadth of experience at a young age through his work with pipeline projects and his leadership within the APGA.
Holding a role on the executive management team of CNC Project Management, Mr Vesey has worked across all phases of pipeline projects, ranging from on-site construction work and pipeline and facility design with an engineering consultant, to route selection, land access and multi-layered approval/licencing processes.
This enthusiasm for the industry has translated into an impressive commitment to the APGA, and to the association’s support of young professionals through the APGA Young Pipeliners Forum (YPF).
Mr Vesey has served as a committee member and Chair of the Victorian YPF for three years, during which time he has also been involved in drafting the association’s Stakeholder Code of Practice.
Environment on the front foot
The Spiecapag Lucas joint venture earned the APGA 2015 Environment Award for its Front Foot Package, a program focused on managing fauna during APA Group’s Eastern Goldfields Pipeline Project.
The Environment Award, first awarded in 2012, has become a highly sought after recognition of outstanding environmental performance in the pipeline and gas industry.
The award acknowledges efforts that aim to improve the environment and achieving leading environmental practice.
Programs may be nominated under the criteria of Unique Innovation or Initiative Addressing an Environment Issue; New and well-defined Environment Management System, Procedure or Practice; or Outstanding Environmental Performance.
The Front Foot Package, under the Unique Innovation criterion, was recognised for its success in spreading awareness of fauna management and generating buy-in from the whole construction workforce.
Mr Dayman congratulated Spiecapag Lucas for its work with APA Group “to achieve real behavioural modification and improvement in attitudes towards protecting fauna on the project.”
The Spiecapag Lucas project was one of three high quality nominations, alongside Mitchell Water’s Reducing the Erosion and Sediment Problem From the Outset program, under the New and Well-defined Environment Management System criterion, and APA Group’s VNIE Wollert to Wandong Looping project, under the Outstanding Environmental Performance criterion.
The three programs were assessed by a committee of independent professionals, and Mr Dayman acknowledged that the panel had been faced with a very difficult decision.
Fast feedback acquires Safety Award
The 2015 APGA Safety Award was taken out by construction contractor Murphy Pipe and Civil for developing an app that enables a quick check of workers’ mental health while providing a portal for them to access information and services.
The mental health and wellbeing app – called “˜Fast Feedback’ – was chosen from a field of eight nominations.
“Murphy Pipe and Civil’s mental health and wellbeing app, Fast Feedback, was selected as the winner because of the innovative way in which it positively addresses mental health in the workplace,” said Mr Dayman.
“Mental health is an under-appreciated issue in the Australian workforce which causes many more fatalities than work place accidents.
“The app is a simple and effective way to gauge the mental health of the workforce and identify issues both negatively and positively impacting the well-being of the FIFO and BIBO
workers.
“It also allows management to showcase their responses and the positive actions that they have taken to address the regular feedback received from the workforce.”
New Murphy Pipe and Civil CEO John Smith said the company had been using the app for a little more than a year, and that many of its workers had taken advantage of the services offered on
the app.
Inaugural award honours namesake
To honour the memory of the recently passed Australian pipeliner Jeff Shepherd, a legendary figure in the industry for decades, APGA established the Jeff Shepherd Construction Excellence Award.
The honour of being the first-ever recipient of the award went to McConnell Dowell Executive Mark Barrows.
“Mark Barrows has made a significant contribution to the construction industry, and particularly the pipelines sector, during his career that spans more than 30 years,” said Mr Dayman.
“He worked closely with Jeff Shepherd throughout his career to establish McConnell Dowell’s pipelines capability on the world stage.
“The challenging projects they undertook as a team were typically remote with long shifts away from home so, in many respects, they became family.”
Beginning his career in New Zealand, Mr Barrows moved to Australia in 1985 where Jeff Shepherd appointed him Project Engineer on the Wasleys to Adelaide Pipeline in South Australia.
Progressing through the ranks at McConnell Dowell, Mr Barrows is now the Managing Director of Dutco McConnell Dowell, based in Dubai.
Mr Dayman also said nominees for the Jeff Shepherd award were not limited to construction.
“Jeff Shepherd was also highly regarded for his mentoring and training skills, bringing young people through the industry and ensuring they received broad and deep experience,” said Mr Dayman.
“He was instrumental in developing the next generation of leaders.”
Mr Dayman said Mr Barrows benefited from the mentoring, training, support and diverse experience provided by Mr Shepherd to become an industry leader in his own right and now draws on the legacy left by the legendary pipeliner’s example to similarly mentor the industry’s future leaders.
“Mark has been instrumental in developing collaborative work cultures and innovative safety and quality programs that have empowered project teams to achieve exceptional outcomes and set new benchmarks for the construction industry,” Mr Dayman said.