Mine to Market March-April 2012 - Mount Isa Mines

Bob Griffin’sstoryTownsville“There’s always a new project on thehorizon, and having the opportunityto develop my skills and expand myexperience has been the key driver in mycareer – that’s what keeps me motivated.”In a career that spans 35 years andcounting, there’s not a whole lot ourTownsville Port Operations ActingTraining Coordinator Bob Griffin hasn’texperienced. For Bob, working at Xstrata’sTownsville Port means there’s alwayssomething to look forward to.“Over the years I’ve been here therehave been so many developments andinnovations throughout the Port facility.It’s fantastic because it means I’ve had theopportunity experience and learn all aboutthe different aspects of our operations.”I started out in my career way back in‘76. I was a member of the loading crewat the Copper Refinery (CRL) Tank House.Back then, everything was done manually;there were no automated machines toload and strip the cells. It was hard, hotwork; the anodes were lifted into the cellsby crane in bundles of ten and had to bespaced out by hand – it was a differenttime. Nowadays, our machines are sealedand our cabins are air conditioned – it’spretty luxurious in comparison!I look at the environment we workin today and it amazes me how muchtechnology has improved our business.Not just in terms of productivity, but thesafety of our operations.I remember when we started rolling outour new ISA Process technology in the late‘70s. In the early days, I guess we wereworried about what the technology wouldmean for us – would we be replaced withmachines? During the transition, I movedaround working for Mount Isa Minessubsidiary business Townsville Transportand Services (TTS). One day I wouldbe unloading rail wagons of lead slabsfrom Mount Isa and transporting coppercathode, copper cake and billet fromCRL to the docks for export, and the nextI’d be transporting frozen meat from theStuart and Ross River meatworks to SuterPier or working in the North QueenslandWool store. Looking back, while thetransition to automated machinery seemedscary at first, it meant I got the chance toexperience a wide range of job roles acrossthe Port operations through my work atTTS. And here I am, still in the business,33 years later ...I’d say the highlight of my career wasworking on the Bulk Handling Terminalupgrade project in ’82. I got to play a rolein constructing the new tippler, offices andstorage shed. Seeing a project of that scaleprogress from start to finish was a valuablelearning experience. When constructionwas finished, I decided to stay on as part ofthe Port Operations team.The Bulk Handling Terminal is in theprocess of relocating to Berth 8 of theTownsville Port where it will have a new,state-of-the-art ship loader and conveyorsystem. My role will be to ensure thetransition goes off without any issues.That means pulling together new trainingpackages for our operators and supervisingthe training of the crews. It’s a big job, butfor me the reward is in the challenge.Over the years, while there have beenhuge technological and operationaldevelopments, the biggest changes havebeen in the field of safety and health.Today, we’re all so much more aware ofthe risks associated with our work. In the“bad old days”, maintaining a safe workenvironment was almost seen as a brickwall that stopped us getting the job done.Since then, there’s been a big attitudeshift; we understand that being safe onthe job actually increases our operationalproductivity, and helps us to make sureeveryone gets to go home to their familiesat the end of the day. That’s what’sreally important.The constant change and developmentmeans you never really stop learning.There’s always a new project on thehorizon, and having the opportunityto develop my skills and expand myexperience has been the key driver in mycareer – that’s what keeps me motivated.”mine to market27