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Bechtel employs 400 apprentices at Gladstone LNG plants

LNG Industry,


Bechtel has honoured its commitment to employ and train 400 apprentices during the construction of three LNG plants in Gladstone.

Bechtel is designing and building the Queensland Curtis LNG, Santos GLNG, and Australia Pacific LNG plants for three separate customers on Curtis Island in Queensland.

Commenting on the opportunity, John van Nimwegan, one of the 401 apprentices, said” "It's a whole new start for me. It's given me new skills, it's going to make me more employable in the future once this project is finished. I've always wanted to be a boiler maker."

Watch a video of the apprentices in action and hear their stories here.

"This innovative apprenticeship program in Gladstone has helped us meet the high demand for skilled labour on our projects, and it brings long-lasting benefits to Australia's construction industry. It has also given many adult workers the chance to gain a trade qualification that they thought had passed them by. For many, this opportunity has been life-changing," added Alasdair Cathcart, Bechtel LNG General Manager.

Bechtel worked with the government's National Apprenticeships Program as well as a number of local and regional training organisations to deliver on the company's commitment to develop Australia's construction workforce. The program focuses on training people to meet national skills shortages in areas including: electrical fitter mechanical, instrumentation and control, metal fabrication, boiler making, sheet metal, mechanical fitting, and carpentry formwork.

People with at least 40% of the competency for their trade qualification were considered for the program. Those who qualified were provided a flexible program targeting individual gaps that allowed the apprentices to complete their trade training within the construction timeframes of the Curtis Island projects. More than 150 people who have gone through the program are now fully qualified tradespeople.


Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/11112014/bechtel-apprentices-in-gladstone-1763/

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