Alexis Singleton

6.00 AM

My alarm goes off and I quickly jump out of bed and into the warm shower – a pleasant distraction from the bitter cold that awaits outside my room! I quickly get ready for work then drive to site, there is a bus that goes the 10km between the village and site every 30 minutes, but I prefer to drive myself.

6.45 AM

Arrive at the office aka ‘Meerkat’. I unpack my lunch and then start to check on emails from the night before and prepare my top priorities for the day. 

7.10 AM

One of our main valve providers pops up at my desk wanting some clarity on a project of mine. I find working in maintenance means you need to be adaptable to changing work plans and conditions, you never know when a vital asset will fail or who is going to arrive at your desk seeking answers and solutions!

Emmerson site representative comes to site weekly to provide support and technical advice it is a really great resource for a graduate to take advantage of and I have learnt a lot from them. 

The project is looking to reduce pressure loss through our cyclone feed pump gland water manifolds, very important as should the loss be significant the gland may fail and the pump trip out resulting in loss of production. We take a walk down to the valve manifolds in question and discuss potential solutions. Emmerson will get back to me with valve specifications and costings soon which I can then raise to the processing plant superintendent for a trial.

8.30 AM

We hold a team meeting to discuss what team members are up to, provide support to colleagues if possible and keep up to date on site going on’s etc. 

10.00 AM

On Thursdays, we have our weekly classified plant meeting. One of my responsibilities as a graduate mechanical engineer is ‘Wet Plant’ registered plant. Registered plant - previously known as classified plant prior to the new Work Health & Safety Mines Regulations released in March 2022. 

Registerable plant is considered high risk plant and equipment identified as being extremely hazardous should its design, construction, testing, operation or maintenance not be to an adequate standard. Due to this increased risk of harm and/or injury to personnel and/or assets there are specific requirements for each registerable plant required under law. It is part of my job to ensure that all pressure vessels, Cranes, Lifts, Elevating work platforms and workboxes are suitable for use under these regulations.

During this meeting we go through the current status of our site’s classified plant – outstanding actions identified by our third party inspector to ensure the asset remains compliant with regulations and safe for use, pressure relief valve status and compliance, upcoming major mechanical and structural inspections for our cranes. A large job I am planning to execute this year is the major mechanical and structural overhaul of our 65T Mill Crane which requires collaboration with a number of teams and internal/external contacts to ensure the crane is returned to operation as soon as possible.
Following the meeting I continue on with registered plant, having received some statutory reports from our inspector I need to go through these, identify issues needing addressing and then store the reports securely on our system for future review.

12.30 PM

Lunch time 😊

1.00 PM

Another one of my key responsibilities at Boddington is pumps and piping. I am responsible for pump trials to improve pump efficiency and life, as well as approving piping drawings for new pipework and initiating remediation works on holed spools etc. 

3.00 PM

As it is Thursday on my short swing – I am on a 5,2,4,3 roster so five days on site, two offsite, four onsite and three offsite – I leave the office a bit earlier than usual to drive home, this is part of our fatigue management on site and managing the drive home so no one is driving tired.

I packed my used uniforms and gym clothes etc last night so can drive home straight from site. It takes about 1 hour and 45mins back to Perth where I will quickly walk my dog (after a week away they really love it when you pull up in garage!) then have a relaxed weekend hopefully! 

If it wasn’t my short week….

I would continue on with registered plant work, replying to emails and plan tomorrow’s priorities, correspondence I need to follow up on or tasks I need to focus on. I leave the office around 1700 and head to the gym before going to the mess for dinner. Dependent on who is onsite I might catchup with some colleagues at the Wet Mess (site pub) before heading to bed or watch Netflix in my donga and call home first. I aim to be in bed and asleep by 2130 to do it all again in the morning 😊