| Description | Interview length: 55min 31secs
Interview Summary: Gavin William Gault, born 1964, current occupation is Head of Maintenance and Inspection. Married, with two children; son aged 14, daughter aged 10. Paternal grandfather was a guard on the railways for 45 years and served in World War Two in the RAF. Paternal grandmother was a housewife. Maternal grandparents professions are unknown. Father was a shoemaker then became a lighthouse keeper, was the last lighthouse keeper in Scotland. Parents divorced in 1974, mother was mainly a housewife but had several part-time jobs, for example serving in bars. 1 younger brother, currently a construction supervisor offshore. Born in Aberdeen, lived alternately as a child in Banchory, Orkney, Ardnamurchan, Islay, Bressay (Shetland) and Fraserburgh. Attended primary school in Stromness on Orkney, Bowmore on Islay, and Bressay on Shetland. Attended secondary school at Anderson High School, Lerwick and Fraserburgh Academy. Left school aged 17, with several O-Levels and Highers in, Engineering, Geography and Physics. Then attended Banff and Buchan Technical College on day release from his apprenticeship with Total Oil and Marine. Started with Total in October 1981, attended both college and worked at St.Fergus gas terminal. Finished apprenticeship at St.Fergus then moved offshore to MCP-01. Describes routine whilst an apprentice at St.Fergus and on day release at College. Describes how he met his wife and why they delayed marriage until after her university course concluded. Bought his own flat aged 17 in Fraserburgh whilst an apprentice. Describes transport arrangements for getting to work whilst an apprentice. Considered pay to be acceptable, but money was often short by the end of the month. Had friends working in fishing who were earning large wages. Describes and names colleagues and supervisors whom he remembers from the mechanical team at St. Fergus. Discusses social life and organisations at Total. Recalls how he transferred from onshore work to offshore work on the MCP-01 platform in 1986. Describes his rotation routine and how he worked a mix of both onshore and offshore. Became a full-time technician on MCP-01 after a crew member left. Describes MCP-01, the work, wages, weather. Describes in detail the accommodation on board, rooms, food. States that his work could involve anything from fixing toilets, to maintaining the main gas compression turbines. Considered the food on MCP-01 to be excellent and that the platform was a happy and content workplace. Describes in detail the leisure facilities and his interest in weightlifting. Moved to Alwyn in 1989 as a maintenance supervisor and worked there for 9 years. Returned to MCP-01 before it became not-normally-manned and found it had deteriorated greatly in 15 years of use. Was not offshore the night of Piper Alpha as he was attending his grandmothers funeral, he should have been on shift. Recalls the subdued nature of personnel onboard MCP-01 on the day after the Piper Alpha disaster. Remembers the reviews and Health and Safety changes instigated after the Piper Alpha disaster. Believes safety has been improved. Describes in detail the role, daily use and production figures of MCP-01. Describes role and use of Alwyn A+B platforms and his own job onboard. Compares Alwyn and MCP-01 in detail. Recalls life onboard Alwyn and both personal and communal accommodation facilities. Eventually began working onshore as the senior mechanical engineer responsible for Alwyn and Dunbar fields. Compares the onshore and offshore working and personal routines. Describes latest job in Paris, developing a new production platform that will be installed offshore near Nigeria. Considers unionism to have had a limited impact within Total. Believes Total to be a fair employer, although has been approached by other companies to work for them. Lists the various personal development courses he has attended during work with Total.
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