pipefitter

Bechtel

The best way to describe a typical day would be a 4 am wake up, getting dressed (work clothes,boot,etc. were always well supplied at Bechtel) then making my way down to the mess hall for breakfast (love the Continental).  Upon finishing breakfast I would quickly go to the bus line and take my seat I was always sure to be early as many of my co-workers would always wait for the last minute to disembark and this created a large amount of congestion.
Upon arriving on site I had plenty of time before pre-start. This was my favourite part of the day as it gave me a chance to chat with other employees and learn more about them.
Around 6.20 am I made my way to pre-start. This was always an interesting part of the day.  Most supervisors were excellent at pre-start because I found (with their many years of experience) any questions arising from the daily announcements were always answered in a timely fashion and interpreted so all employees had a clear understanding of what was expected of them.
After pre-start was finished and all employees were given their daily work schedule and formed into work groups, each employee would assist in writing the STARRT card (some people did not like this process, but I thought they were great in helping me remember the names of my co-workers when I first arrived on site).  When the STARRT card was completed the day's work would begin.
The most enjoyable part of every day (especially when working with riggers) was the strong focus on team work and safety. Every member of the team had an equal say in how a job should be approached and at all times be 100% safe.
At the end of shift (when the entire crew would assemble) I was always happy to hear that nobody was injured.
The hardest part of the day was the line up for the buses back to camp and the congestion this caused, so I tried to do overtime as often as possible.

A typical day will consist of me delegating works for my various craft disciplines for the completion of construction work and completion packs. Due to the shortage of competent engineer and work package staff, I spend a lot of my time making my own work packs and completing administration works instead of supervising and field problem solving. 
My management varies. I have some that are really knowledgeable and others that should not be there. More of the later unfortunately. I work within a good team, but yet again others should not be in the position that they find themselves in. Too many spend too much time in the office, I myself spend more than I would like to but I do make a genuine effort to be out in the field regularly. It has been mentioned to me numerous times that I am one of the only field supervision team members spending time out of the office.
The hardest part of the job is the constant changes, lack of clear direction and communication from above. This project had potential to be good, the lessons learnt from the previous project were not taken on board and others not wanting to listens from previous experiences has been a major downfall. 
The most enjoyable part would be being able to wind down and socialise with the crew that I have. Fortunate enough to have a really good crew of guys that have jelled well together, hence being one of the better performing crews on the project.

Bechtel was a great company to work for.
They are very good at teaching you and advancing you into different roles. Bechtel particularly looks for people with a 'can do' attitude and who are happy to mobilise to project sites, which may be remote or any where around the world.

If you are happy to do this, and you work hard, you will go far in Bechtel.

Bechtel has a good remuneration program, which typically includes salary increases annually and eligibility for an annual bonus as well.

The management team in the ES&H department are committed to safety performance. This is one area where Bechtel shines.  A strong safety performance has been one of their outstanding qualities for many years. Environment and Health come second to safety, but as an ES&H representative in the construction industry, one must accept this as the norm.

The most enjoyable part of working at Bechtel in the ES&H profession was knowing that the business unit president was very supportive of the initiatives we were undertaking.  When the top manager is passionate about it, the general culture in the workplace follows suit.  This was a major benefit working as an ES&H professional at Bechtel.

Bechtel over all is a fantastic company to work for  its a very large company and has a very good job work/ life balance within the company and flexible hours.

Health and safety policy are very strong with this company not just at work but day to day life outside of the workplace.

The workplace culture is very diverse and works very well. 

Management, Managers and supervisors are open to advancement and training and it's an open door policy with any concerns.

It's a very fast past company/ work environment to work for and has very good cross training programs within departments.

The hardest part when you start with Bechtel is knowing how the company works and keeping up with the strict deadline policy that are  put into place but once you get used to this it's well worth it when everyone in the team pulls together and works as a team and helps trouble shoots any issues that arise.

The thing about Bechtel is its a team environment atmosphere if an issue arises its not one persons issue to deal with it becomes the teams issue to solve together which helps with team building within your team that you can trust and support one another in any aspect of each others position.

A typical day:
Toolbox meeting,
organise staff 
Up to 30 semi trucks waiting - unloaded in turn. Products could be thermal bricks, palletised goods, structural steel, steel vessels, large crates, drums cable, pipe, containers etc,
I was site heavy forklift operator, so I had a laydown area for containers and liaised via two-way to each section to offload.
Structural steel, I offloaded sections at the back of the plant and then basic rigging when required.
Once trucks were offloaded and deconned and documentation completed, Operational warehouse spares started to come in and I was a part of this function to receive in SAP,
Inventory control,
Risk Assessment,
Emergency Response
Damage report control (receipt)
Meeting KPI's (budget control)

Hardest part of my job was leaving half way through a task to an emergency and hoping that everyone was alright. 
The other hardest part of my job was when the construction finished even though I was always lucky to be seconded over to the operating company to work, I always missed working with my work colleagues.
The most enjoyable part of my job was the fast pace and variety of work and always meeting deadlines.

A typical day at work consists of attending morning pr-starts. Allocating work crews, attending morning management meetings to discuss daily priorties. Ordering equipment through our procurement team, developing scaffolding procedure and processes for site. Most importantly is to maintain the safety of our team and follow workers around the work site.

I have learnt alot more now regarding the procurement side of things with Bechtel as they are quite different to other companies that I have worked for.

My peers and the project managers are great to work with during the planning stages and priotisation of work through day to day meetings.

The hardest part of the job is being restricted in bringing ideas forward which would benefit the project commercially and improving the safety of our team members.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the diverse workforce and the majority of the people are all cooperative and willing to help where possible.

A typical day at work started with my morning meetings to plan out work and procedures for the day and week ahead. Then a prestart meeting with the crew to relay the job fronts and assign crew members to there respective jobs. I learned a lot through out this contract due to being made leading hand early in the job and thoroughly enjoyed and embraced the opportunity. Unfortunately Bechtel had a large turnover of management that disrupted work and workers alike, but we as a crew pushed on through this completing our goals and targets. My co-workers and crew were more then i could of ever asked for, with a great balance of new comers to the industry and experienced workers made the process a great success and was a great learning experience for me and the crew. The hardest part of the job was executing plans from management that were not set out correctly due to high turnover, but we as a crew managed to do so without incident and with the up most safety. The most enjoyable part of my job was the bond between our crew that made the job safer, fluent, and successful.

This company has been around for a very long time (1880) as a construction company.  If you have been in the military, 4x1 it is a breeze. If you haven't  Harden Up!!! Their systems must work, or they would not be still operating. Construction has changed so much over the last few years, that it is hardly recognizable. All people seem to do these days is b--ch & whinge instead of getting on with it. I have worked for Bechtel on 7 Projects in Australia & NZ since 1982, although I have not been employed with them                     over the last 5yrs. I always found the personnel at the top approachable & helpful, this is because they ensure that it is right for the people on the ground. Remember some                                             people like to          lead, others like to                        follow. Construction is not for everyone & this is coming through in the comments in this column. If its not for you, get out                                    before                  you hurt yourself,                 or someone                                                                                     else. Let people who want to be there                            get a go. The jobs                             do come to an end people, a lot of you out there think they don't, & that's when the sh-t hits the fan.

Worked for this company for over 10 years. If you don't know people in the company or have a sponser to get you to your next project your wasting your time. Some of the people they have in Human Resources in Australia have no idea, some are really are out of their depth but yet they are still there, it just goes to show if you are welling to do some brown-nosing you might get that promotion. The Bechtel family are a great family, its the management team, especially the Corporate teams in Australia that let the company down. They are ripping the company off, while paid to hide on projects with no real job for them, again boils down to who you know.  Was once a great place to work, people that are 50 years and older looking for career progression or long term employment should certainly looks elsewhere, Until the good old Boy/Girls club is still dictating who gets a job and who doesn't is finally realized this company will remain not a good place to work. Well known that others are allowed to take credit for others hard work, this is reflected in the bonuses given each year. 

Very satisfied here with Bechtel, this job will come to an end soon and i need to continue working. 
I have been with the company just under 2 years and have been promoted twice in this short time.
I am now in control of the catering team that runs the village, they report to me being the client.
I will also look after many different attributes revolving around the client and keeping all parties satisfied.
Always assuring that the safety of all the employees is a vital part of my day and enjoy finding ways to make jobs safer for everyone.
Have made many lifelong friends here; actually look forward to returning to work, my fellow co-workers make this job a pleasure.
The hardest part of the job would be the logistical side of things, when we have no accommodation and need rooms.

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