In this article, we will take a close look at the offshore industry, focusing on how the living conditions are when you start working in an offshore company. Today, there are at least 1,400 offshore oil and gas rigs all over the world. It means that this job can take you everywhere in the world.
From the United States, the United Kingdom to the Gulf of Mexico and Australia. There is also a big chance that you will be assigned in the Middle East, the land of crude oil and natural gas. At any point in time, you will find at least 300 people working and living on am oil and gas rig.
To find out more offshore oil and gas industry in the United States, you can check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_oil_and_gas_in_the_United_States.
There is a big chance that these structures have no big windows at all. Be thankful we are living in a world of modern infrastructure. In the ’70s, before the flat-screen televisions, smartphones and WiFi, people working in this industry were restricted to just one satellite phone call per week, and they need to do it in under six minutes.
International offshore jobs, especially in engineering, require workers to travel to some of the most unstable and remote places on the planet. It includes living in an oil or gas rig in the middle of nowhere, battling strong winds and waves. But the good news is, jobs in this industry have big paydays. Not only that, everything, from cooking, cleaning to washing your clothes are assigned to other workers
Is there training to be done before you work on an oil or gas rig?
Jobs in this industry is not your usual nine-to-five office job or you a “stuck in the middle of the rush hour” commute. For starters, a helicopter is needed to get to the place where the rig is located. The travel alone is a once-in-a-lifetime and invigorating experience, most people will only dream of.
Offshore workers will undergo complete sea survival training before they are deployed. And since the place is full of flammable and combustible materials, as well as heavy machinery, workers will have the benefit of undergoing seminars and training to make sure that they will be competent and at their very best at all times.
Before you start your offshore life, you will also be submitted to a series of medical examination to make sure that you are suitable and fit to work in this industry. There is also medical staff like physicians, dentist and nurses on-board. In case of emergency, a standby helicopter will be used to evacuate people back to the shore.
Work hours in the oil or gas rig
Usually, workers have a 12-hour shift with 12-hours off, and most shift patterns are a mixture of day and night since the rig operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no downtime. A lot of offshore jobs will require a shift of two to three weeks offshore and two to three weeks on the land, but there will be times that the pattern can be more extended, depending on how far is the rig to the land.
Offshore accommodation
An offshore living quarters manufacturers makes sure that they have a dedicated team of canteen staff who prepares fresh food round the clock, usually with a self-service style food counter. Despite its location, offshore companies, make sure that fresh food is being shipped to the rig regularly.
It means that you will have a lot of access to fresh fruits, vegetables, water and meat. Oil and gas rigs are very close-knit communities and expect that you will share your living quarters with other workers, although some companies offer private rooms to their workers. Toilets and showers used to be shared between a couple of living quarters, but most rooms offer televisions, wash bins and entertainment gadgets like DVD players, gaming consoles or personal computers.
How can workers stay in touch with their families?
If you are in the middle of the sea, the signal for mobile phones is not particularly reliable. But more substantial gas and oil rigs have internet connections enabling messaging services like Skype, WatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Viber. Make sure that all workers will have uninterrupted communications with their friends and families.
