Teigan Morrison is a mechanical technician at Wood. She joined the company in 2020 straight from the fifth year of school on a mechanical maintenance apprenticeship.
She shares her career journey, her experience on the Wind Cross Skill Programme and what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry.
Apprenticeships are a great way into industry
Teigan completed the mechanical pathway for an ECITB Diploma in Maintaining Engineering Construction Plant and Systems qualification that formed part of her Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship before going on to do a HNC in mechanical engineering.
She recommends this route into industry: “I really enjoyed it. We did two years of college getting a good theoretical grounding.
“I was with other apprentices from different companies as well. So, it was a good mix.
“After the two years at college in Falkirk I then did two years at St Fergus onshore gas terminal getting hands-on experience. I really enjoyed that. It’s a good way of learning for me.”
Going with the wind
Teigan was one of the technicians selected for the Wind Turbine Cross Skill Pilot Programme developed by the ECITB, in partnership with Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
The programme took existing technicians across electrical, mechanical and instrumentation disciplines and upskilled them to work on wind assets. The programme supports the two-way deployment of workers across oil and gas and wind infrastructure.
Following the programme, Teigan has worked on both wind and oil and gas platforms including the world’s largest offshore wind farm – Dogger Bank.
“I was always interested in working in renewables right from the start of my career, so it was a perfect opportunity for me.
“It’s definitely been good for both the company and me because I’ve got all this experience now and can be deployed wherever the work is needed.
“I’m still mechanical but have a better appreciation for the other two disciplines. We touched on these in my apprenticeship, so it was nice to revisit them.
“Whenever I go out to sites, I’m with a team of electricians and instrument techs as well. It’s good if we all have a basic knowledge of everyone else’s work.
“I’d really like to fully move into renewables one day. This has given me experience, put myself out there and, whatever industry I want to go into in the future, gives me more options.
“My highlight from the programme was visiting the Levenmouth turbine. We had the class-based theory on the components of the wind turbines but getting to go and see it before we went offshore was great.
“For people who’ve only ever known one type of work, it could broaden their perspective to what’s possible. It’s not retraining. It’s taking the existing skills that you have and expanding those.
“You’ve already got the skills from your trade already that you can easily develop into something that could take you offshore with renewables in the future.”
Teigan Morrison
‘Connected competence ensures everyone is on the same page’
A pre-requisite to the programme included assurance of ongoing technical competence aligned to the workers’ primary technician trade through the Connected Competence scheme.
Teigan said: “I think it’s a good thing to do. You’ve maybe been working for years and years, but it’s nice to just go back and visit it again.
“Even though you’re confident in your job, it’s good to have a refresher every so often, I’d say.
“It ensures you’re all on the same page. That’s a big thing when you’re working as a team and understanding how everyone else works as well.”
Life working on a wind farm
“In wind, everything is really new and up and coming. I am working on brand new equipment. I’m used to working on older equipment, which obviously requires more maintenance. But I’m using the same skills I learned from fixing the old equipment and taking it into the new industry,” she said.
“I do ten-hour shifts when I’m working onshore. When I work offshore on the wind turbines, it’s a 12-hour day and we live on the vessel1. We go between the three substations located in the Dogger Bank. These are a good distance from each other so there’s sometimes travel time in between.
“We’ll get up, have breakfast and then use the walk to work system on the boat to get safely to and from the platform.
“Our jobs for the day are often routine maintenance of the sea water lift pumps. These are for cooling the huge electrical equipment in the substations. Being mechanical, I’m not really involved in the electrical side, but I’m involved in the cooling of the systems, which is just as important.”
Women in the industry
Teigan was the only woman on the programme (pictured). We asked her what it is like to be in such a male-dominated industry.
“It’s never really bothered me. I’m used to it. Everyone’s always really nice and supportive. Always ready to help if you need it. So, yeah, it’s great.
“I’ve definitely seen more females in the industry recently, so that’s good to see.
“When I started out in my apprenticeship and working onshore, I was wearing the men’s overalls and men’s gloves. The gloves, particularly, were far too big.
“I’m always given the option nowadays, if I want woman specific overalls, there’s no problem ordering them. They are much comfier for me anyway. And I’ve got proper fitting gloves, which is really important for working.”
With the energy sector’s biggest transformation still unfolding, technicians like Teigan, equally at home on a gas terminal or the world’s largest wind farm, are exactly who the industry needs.
1 An SOV (Service Operation Vessel) is a specialised maritime vessel that serves as a floating offshore base for housing technicians, equipment and logistics during offshore wind farm maintenance
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