| Description | Interview length: 1hr 24min 49secs
Interview summary: Iain Grant Cameron, born 1949, current occupation: Retired, voluntary work. Married to Janis Cameron, born 1951. Three children: Clare, born 1975, nursery nurse; Grant, born 1979, student; Bruce, born 1982, student. Paternal grandfather worked as a fisherman, from the Moray Firth, followed herring trade from Shetland to South Coast England. Paternal grandmother worked as a herring girl. Maternal grandfather pre-deceased mother's birth. Maternal grandmother returned to work as a nurse to support family. Mother worked as a bank clerk in Oldmeldrum branch of The Northern Bank, National Savings Bank in Glasgow and the Tax Office in East Kilbride. Father, fisherman's son, attended Edinburgh University and read Law, study interrupted by World War Two. Served in the Army and was a Captain in Special Forces. Post-war returned to finish degree, then worked for the Southern Scotland electricity board as a Wayleave Officer. Iain Cameron born 25 December 1949, Lennoxtown Hospital, moved to new town; East Kilbride. Grew up in East Kilbride, attended Murray Primary School, East Kilbride Primary School and Kirktonholme Primary School, failed 11 plus exam. Attended a new comprehensive school, Hunter High School and gained 7 O-Levels. Left school aged 17 1/2, became an apprentice with Rolls Royce aero engines division, aimed to complete HND. Rolls Royce had crisis due to a contract failure, made redundant. Finished HNC without Rolls Royce support and looked for another job. Met Janis (wife) during period of unemployment. Successfully gained a job as a General Engineer with the electricity board at Kincardine Power Station. Married Janis, moved to Alloa near Stirling in 1972. Moved and worked on the commissioning of Inverkip Power Station, near Largs. 1977 moved jobs to commission Peterhead Power Station, started living in Ellon. Discusses reasons for moving to Ellon and a new job. Worked until 1983 at Peterhead Power Station as Assistant Mechanical Maintenance Engineer. Wife felt that work / life balance was wrong and they discussed career change. October 1983 began work with Total on MCP-01. Discusses implications of changing career: financial, emotional, job satisfaction and family life. Discusses in detail first job for Total, working on MCP-01: routine, working conditions, holidays, training and salary. Believes quality of life onboard MCP-01 was excellent mainly due to the low number of people onboard the rig. Considers Total management and team spirit contributed to a good atmosphere and working structure on MCP-01. Discusses in detail the transition of MCP-01 to not-normally-manned. Following the completion of MCP-01 moving to not-normally-manned, retrained as a safety professional. Worked in operational safety as an auditor and adviser, became Safety Adviser for Alwyn field. Left safety due to the high stress and lower quality of life and moved to work on the commissioning of two large combined gas/oil pumps on the Dunbar platform. Subsequently worked on a new power generation system for the Alwyn field. Moved to work in Indonesia between 1999-2002. Discusses work in Indonesia in detail. Work / life balance again became an issue and wife found the new routine hard. Decided to leave Indonesia. Returned to UK and worked as Head of Maintenance and MCP-01 Offshore Installation Manager at St. Fergus Gas Terminal until retirement. Discusses returning to MCP-01, emotions and work. OIM job was removed from job specification and became solely Head of Maintenance at St. Fergus. Took early retirement. Reflects in detail on the positive and negative aspects of career. Discusses plans for retirement and activities now started following retirement. Describes charity work and community work.
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