Plant Operator Review

As a plant operator, a usual day consists of carrying out daily checks of all plant and routine (monthly or weekly) tasks, including testing of fire systems and and changeover of plant equipment. when the plant is coming on or off, i have to help and assist the desk operators by opening and closing valves when told.

when working in a shift team, team work skills are essential. face to face communication skills are essential for handing over problems and / or circumstances so that all persons on shift know what the current status is of jobs. communication is also essential over radios. problem solving it a skill that has been developed as unusual circumstances can occur.

the programme is enjoyable, it relates to the college course i had completed to a good extent. the power station has a very well structured learning process for apprentice and trainee plant operators to get them fully competent, making the experience better for all involved.. the work life balance of working shifts is also very enjoyable.

the programme is well structured and organised. there are different jobs that a plant operator can be given each day. to begin with, we are given general duties, one of the easier tasks, this allows us to not only familiarise ourselves with plant but also with the computer systems used to ensure safe and smooth work. after GD's and miscellaneous tasks have become competent, the more challenging duties can be started.

support from the employer was a great help. all on shift would help train me up. by explaining things from books and other training sources and then to taking me outside on the plant and showing me systems at which we had just gone over in the control room. all on shift were happy to help.

support was always given from the trainer provider. almost every day of the week, our focal point would be available to replies to emails about questions and queries that i may have had and needed and answer for. reviews were also done remotely through teams calls so that we could chat face to face rather than just through emails.

one of the biggest helps from my qualification that i believe helps me to perform better in my roles is the communication and team work parts. as mentioned before, communication is essential when working on shift, aswell as when i am out on the plant and the control room operators cannot see what i am seeing outside on the plant.

there are many extra curricular activities to get involved in at work. there a safety team that have meetings and organise days out for bonding teams and whot not. there is also the odd night organised for after work, which include activities such as quiz nights, bowling, beach clean ups and many more.

Yes

SSE is a very employee friendly company, there are many benefits given to employees. they also give employees a very good work life balance, which is only made better by schemes such as holiday plus, which allows employees to buy extra holidays from the company on top of the already allocated days.

Tips I would give someone applying to SSE would be to read into the company, things such as long term goals that sse are looking to achieve, including net zero, ongoing commissioning projects. health and safety is obviously a big priority to sse, like all other companies, so ensuring your knowledge on HSE is the best it can be would also help.