• Question: What would you say your key tasks in your organisations were?

    Asked by Zoe to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 8 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 8 Mar 2015:

      First and foremost my main responsibility is to ensure safety is the primary consideration. This is mostly done through risk assessment, where I identify things that could go wrong or could hurt someone, then I look at ways in which to stop that happening.

      Then I also design repairs for bridge and other structures on highways. This involves me going and looking at the bridge – often at night because we can’t close the road during the day when people want to use it. Once I have measured and tested a bridge, I can diagnose the problem and begin to look at what we can do to fix it.

    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      In a nutshell, my key task is to ensure that subsea pipelines that carry oil and gas are safe. This is especially important when you consider that oil and gas are flammable, and can be at temperatures of greater than 170°C and pressures of greater than 700 bar (the pressure in a car’s tyre is around 2 bar, for comparison!).

      Here is a more detailed breakdown:

      My company is a consultancy, which means that we are paid to solve problems and provide expert advice. My company is involved in many sectors, but I work in the Oil and Gas part of the business – specifically in Subsea. This means that I design and analyse things that are below the surface of the water. This mainly involves pipelines, which are used to transport oil and gas.

      My key tasks are to carry out subsea design/analysis based on what the client (the company who wants us to solve their problem) wants. I will meet with the client to understand what the problem is, and we will agree a date when we expect the problem will be solved by (although sometimes things are easier than expected, and sometimes they prove to be harder!).

      I will then meet with my colleagues and discuss the problem, before carrying out calculations and/or making models in computer software, depending on the problem. I will then write a report about the solution that I think is best to the problem.

      Hope this helps!

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Hi Zoe,

      I have a number of pretty well defined tasks actually. I am a technical lead on military project meaning I am responsible for coming up with solutions to clients problems and managing a team to help solve the problem. I am a Business Development Manager for Military Projects which mean I need to try and bring more business into the company. I am responsible for peoples personal development, so i help to map out other peoples careers and help identify ways in which they can meet their goals and I also make tea!

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