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14 February 2023
Mark McDonald, Senior HSEQ Advisor at Atlas Professionals, discusses how the Greenhand Programme was conceptualised in the first place, how it is ensuring new skilled Roustabouts are entering into the industry and what lies in its future with valuable insight from Alex Palla, Team Leader.
Offshore is one of the industries that needs new entrants to ensure a sustainable business environment is possible – with the demand for willing, competent, and agile Professionals increasing every day. As a recruitment company that has been providing business solutions to our partners for more than four decades, Atlas Professionals realizes how important it is to achieve quick turnaround rates and match the right candidate with the right job for professional and operational success. To ensure such business environment is possible, Atlas initiated the Greenhand Programme, with Mark McDonald and Alex Palla spearheading the efforts from our Aberdeen office.
Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity
The Greenhand Programme originated in mid-10s, a time where international outlook of the Energy industry was turning negative and the need to secure new entrants into the Energy workforce was becoming increasingly prominent: “We know our industry is a dynamic one and the market conditions never stay the same – that’s what happened for some years after 2014. Following the downturn in Oil and Gas between 2014 and 2018, an influx of experienced Professionals left the industry,” Mark comments.
“Many did not re-enter the industry and this was attributed to factors such as retirement, securing onshore employment or transitioning their skills to new areas such as the Renewables sector. Alex and I identified some of the prominent shortages in the industry and subsequently developed the Atlas Professionals Greenhand Programme to ensure our industry has access to sustainable influx of new and eager Professionals,” he reminisces.
The Greenhand Programme is designed to incorporate safety and competencies into selection process to allow potential Roustabouts to start their career with the right considerations: “In addition to the mandatory industry certification that has to be completed by the candidates, a screening process is in place including a CV review and telephone interview, active participation of the bespoke Atlas Professionals 1-day Greenhand Induction, an aptitude test and then face-to-face interview with one of our Aberdeen Drilling Team. This way, we ensure that the prospective Professional is properly introduced to the industry and can have access to various sources of information from the get-go.”
Aligned with Industry Needs
The very first Greenhand course was held in Atlas Professionals Aberdeen office in July 2018 with the first Professional being selected by a Client for an offshore duty that same day. The Aberdeen Drilling team then went on to recruit and mobilise over 100 Greenhand Roustabouts between 2018 and March 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the offshore industry heavily after the second quarter of 2020, the Programme was put on hold to assess how to proceed in a safe and reliable manner. In May 2021, however, the Programme was re-started with courses being held at the premises of the training provider within provided safety guidelines. Since then, the Greenhand Programme has managed to complete one milestone after the other with the Atlas’ Aberdeen office recently celebrating mobilisation of the 350th Greenhand Roustabout.
Alex explains how methodical the internal deliberations were and how prominent industry figures were part of the conversation – especially during discussions over Programme’s scope: “After deciding on the Programme’s scope, we arranged meetings with prominent companies of the industry to discover that almost all had reservations for Greenhand Roustabouts with basic certificates due to changing standards and industry expectations. After internal deliberations, we approached the same Clients to inquire whether they would be receptive if Greenhands had more varied set of certificates – which was a positive. Mark’s next step was immediately contacting providers to find out about availability, the cost of the training and then establish a relationship with a chosen training partner.”
Today, the Greenhand Programme enjoys a robust support from prominent industry figures operating in the North Sea. Apart from general programmes, Atlas Professionals Aberdeen team has been organising exclusive joint efforts to introduce Greenhands directly to Clients to support their personnel requirements in a way that is suited for their business needs. As the demand for these exclusive partnerships continue to increase, the Greenhand Programme is expected to expand both in scope and quantity.
Mark also has exciting announcements regarding ambitious plans the team has for the future of the Programme: “The Greenhand Programme was such a success with the drilling sector and that prompted us to explore other energy industries where such a programme could be replicated and be a benefit to our future Professionals and our Clients. At a time when experienced Professionals are becoming harder to source across all Energy sectors, we believe that such programmes from Atlas Professionals will aid the skills shortage whilst ensuring that our Professionals are starting their career with safety awareness around the risks and hazards associated with the relevant sectors, which in turn will set up our Professionals to succeed – in a safe and reliable manner.”
