Encouraging youth to reach their full potential

Students and staff from Westernport Secondary College visited LIP in May. The Westernport Secondary College visitors were active participants in the group induction, led by Field Safety Officer Jay Clark, to build understanding of the safety requirements for the site. A tour of the LIP laboratory, led by Laboratory Chemist Bridget Bowers, followed, highlighting the significant work that goes in to testing, monitoring and reporting on product quality.

A walkthrough of the central control room gave students a glimpse of a modern operations environment. Operations Technician Dan Millman provided an overview of career paths that could lead to work in operations, such as those followed by recent starters and trainees.

LIP Plant Manager David McCord said a group of Esso personnel representative of most career disciplines, including apprentices, engineers, management, maintenance, administration, operations and technical met with the group and shared their career journeys and words of encouragement to the students.

“In particular, a few students were keen to follow STEM careers and seeing a very modern laboratory with a passionate presenter sparked a lot of interest for them.

“Students were also interested in the soft skills applicable to a variety of roles. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to continue to reiterate values such as respect, caring and valuing everyone’s contribution, and support for principles of inclusion and diversity, as attributes that would be of value in their work and life ahead,” he said.

Westernport Secondary College Acting Principal Chris Quinn said the school and students were grateful for the opportunity to visit the plant.

“We very much appreciated the time that everyone was willing to give to us for the tour and to explain their roles and pathways,” he said. 

In addition, recently Esso Australia’s Risk, Environment & Regulatory Advisor Eva Loo and LIP Safety Coordinator Glenn Anderson visited Tyabb Railway Primary School to extend the information sharing program to younger students, this time with the central focus being on safety. 

“The team at LIP are particularly keen to continue to support community programs and mentoring opportunities that encourage youth to reach their full potential, as well as encourage young people to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry,” David concluded.