| Administrative History | Recorded as part of the 'Lives in the Oil Industry' oral history project |
| Description | Tape 1 Side A JAMES HAZZEL BRADNEY VANT born Settle, Yorkshire 07.06.1924. Family background. Recollection of grandparents. Paternal grandfather a solicitor in Lancashire. Describes paternal grandmother. Maternal grandfather a merchant, grandmother and aunt eminent cellists. Aunt taught at Royal School of Music, broadcast for BBC. Recalls BBC recording team engaging her to play in field encouraging first nightingale to sing. Grandmother a bird fancier. Father a solicitor, legal advisor to National Farmers' Union, first solicitor to use film evidence. Details. Mother a businesswoman, established catering, bakery businesses. Recalls evidence of Depression when at school. Went to Gigglsewick, Queen Elizabeth Schools. Explains own attitude to taking opportunities. Started law studies, interrupted by war - spent in various countries. Details. Recalls corporal punishment at school. Details re schools, own educational achievements, qualifications. Mentions colleague present at interview, Captain Fred Douglas, ex Air New Zealand. Adopted sister, Eileen Greenwood, first woman solicitor in north England. Recalls parents' attitude, childhood home, domestic staff etc. Effect of war on home, feelings about England, decision to stay in Africa, marriage. Details re wife who was in 14th Army. Place of religion, politics in childhood. Father a councillor. Encouraged in reading, music. Career prospects. Impact of war experience, conscription, feelings about joining up. Characteristics of school principals, Partridge, Defoe. Involvement in boy scouts, sport. Situation in Britain during war, formation of Local Defence Volunteers (later Home Guard). Weapons kept in homes. Background to volunteering for war service, commissioning into Irish Brigade. Later sent with King's African Rifles to India, South East Asia.
Tape 1 Side B After war stayed in Africa, married. Details re finding job in Colonial Service related to research into sleeping sickness, tsetse fly in Tanganyika. Reference Jackson Potts, Napier Backs. Trained as botanist, entymologist. Details of work as sole European with Africans during first 2 years of married life, living in tents. Recalls difficulties with leopards, lions, elephants etc. Had to be fluent in Swahili and other languages. Had as a cook Idi Amin. Details re experiences with him, his boxing, his lack of cooking skills etc. Recalls own later security services related work. Meeting with New Zealander Denis Malone resulting in change to career, scholarships to be trained at National Institute for Personnel Research. Developed psychometric selection & classification procedures, later work re personnel for security forces, industry, Shell, Unilever etc. First contact with oil industry selecting people for oil refinery. Explains psychometric selection, training in South Africa. Experience of dangers in gold mines. Gives example of application of psychometric selection, skills needed. Asked to form organisation providing testing material for wide range of occupations; funding from Ford Foundation etc. Use of tests by mime on silent film because of language difficulties. Describes mobile equipment. Recalls wartime experience with a tribesman tracker in South East Asia. Details re Shell refinery in Africa, difficulty with selection of personnel. Explains procedures followed, importance of statistical material. Describes own style of leadership, attitude to leadership. Effect of leadership experience in wartime. Worked for various companies - Shell, BP, Unilever etc.
Tape 2 Side A Compares BP, Shell, Esso approaches etc. Next phase of career in Oxfordshire, England, c1966. Job with Glaxo Group, developing senior management, managers. Importance of experience in overseas context. Got bored, realised need or qualifications. Mentions having Court Prosecutor's certificate through Colonial Service. Came to Linacre College, Oxford, studied for post-graduate Diploma in Economic Development. Recalls interview with Robert Mabbro. Story of learning about economics on way to interview. Background to choice of Linacre. Details re course. Joined Amalgamated Metal Corporation. Details. Appointed to Petroleum Industry Training Board (PITB) c1970 as Training Advisor (Management). Details re Board which was managed by industry and unions. Benefits of own previous experience. Structure of Board, its role to assess effectiveness of industry in developing staff, to provide training etc. PITB financed by levy on industry. Given role of developing selection schemes to help reduce accident rate. Worked offshore with drilling industry. Recalls first trip offshore with a colleague including stop on crane vessel Hercules for fuel. Reference to Bristows Helicopters. Problems with some American operations. Compares US and British environments, crew recruitment patterns; implications of this for management style, staff relationships etc. British attitude to food offshore. Describes English recruitment process. Impact of Piper Alpha on attitudes in industry. Mentions lack of union representation, effect of high wages. Own impression of atmosphere offshore. Describes unusual hierarchy structures on rigs. Problem with people getting used to changing population environment. Details re work pattern of OIMs (offshore installation managers).
Tape 2 Side B Petroleum Industry Training Board (cont'd). Provided with funding to develop means of selection that would reduce accidents offshore in drilling industry. Importance of being given access by companies. Reference to development/research grants. Also had to improve process of selection of people working offshore. Mentions colleagues. Criteria for selection of colleagues. Explains approach to accident problems in drilling industry, work offshore studying various factors: age, experience, environment, supervision. Findings of study. More difficult task of convincing industry to follow recommendations. Able to convince 4 major companies, resulting in reductions in lost time actions. Problem keeping process going. Details re main accident types. Mentions people with psychological difficulties. Criteria for selection of offshore staff, leadership requirements. Some companies more receptive to recommendations than others. Explains threat felt by some. Describes status of PITB in the industry. Reason for its failure. Own approach to job. Recalls dealing with production side, continuing problem of selling PITB proposals re solutions. Examples of difficulties dealing with production people. Routine when going offshore, own approach. Found that people needed to talk. Explains follow-up to visits. Recalls an OIM on Forties Alpha. Attitude of people to offshore oil workers. Recalls health & safety situation pre Piper Alpha; compares situation in Gulf of Mexico and North Sea. Origin of term 'navvie'. Comments on safety standards, situation offshore. Mentions encounters with Minister of Energy Wedgwood Benn, his situation.
Tape 3 Side A Most people working offshore not involved in politics of industry. Own links with Wedgwood Benn. Opinion of him. Mentions own politics. Some supervisors in industry had part time jobs. Appointed Chairman of organisation that selected roustabouts etc, Offshore Foremen Selection Programme, in Scotland. Details re programme, training done onshore. Explains safety situation pre Health & Safety Executive. Mentions cyclical nature of industry. Moved to work in aviation but continued involvement with oil industry as consultant in management training. Details. Relationship between onshore and offshore people. Application of own work to many industries. Background to setting up international Aviation Study Group dealing with accident rates in aviation; personnel, countries involved. Compares UK and other countries' approach to oil industry: greater flexibility of UK. Comments on makeup of population of United States, resulting difficulties, their preoccupation with paperwork all reflected in oil industry. Comments on photograph album related to oil industry. Reference to Bristows; Hercules crane mounted on tanker hull; Forties Alpha; Dyce airport; inherent instability then of helicopters. Recalls circumstances of chopper flying then, studying for PhD at same time, landing procedures etc. Comments on discipline offshore, Occidental, aircrew. Mentions Kings North standby ships, their routine. Recalls quality of food offshore, situation re alcohol.
Tape 3 Side B Photograph album commentary (cont'd). Comments on personality of offshore workers, need to be able to get on. Compares platforms in southern gas field with those in the north. Recalls early ways of moving from one rig to another by a cone, cage, scramble net etc. Reference to Dyce, Teeside airports. Recalls big aviation tests on evacuation re smokehoods etc. Reaction to Piper Alpha disaster; comments on situation. Own specialisation in aviation industry is fire. Details. Mentions additional hazards in slant drilling. Reluctance of people to look at what could go wrong. Feelings about own advice given. |