If your organization needs drilling and workover rig workers, then you are in the right place. Cameroon is amongst the first oil producers in Africa and therefore has a large talent pool of drilling workers, from superintendents to roustabouts and everything in-between. SPETIV Consulting can supply your organization with experienced drilling personnel. However, if all you want are the profiles of drilling and workover engineers and technicians, we can source them for you from our rich database of over 17,000 profiles.
Cameroon as an Oil Producer
Cameroon’s oil and gas industry has a rich history. It dates to the early 20th century when exploration activities began. The first significant oil discovery was made in 1977. This was in the Rio del Rey Basin. Since then, the industry has grown steadily. It has attracted both local and international oil companies and is now the mainstay of the country’s economy.
If your organization needs drilling and workover rig workers in Cameroon, or you are about to start a drilling project in the country, you must keep the following aspects in mind:
The Talent Pool
Drilling and workover rig projects are capital intensive, timebound, high paced and hazard prone. The best technicians in this sector prefer to work with team members they already know; people they have worked with before and whose work ethics, moods, body language, strengths and weaknesses are familiar to them. Even though they adapt quickly to new teams, they are more effective working with people they feel that they can trust with their lives, given the risks involved in this drilling business. Therefore, in some cases, recruiting teams of workers can make your work easier and safer than recruiting individuals to constitute a team.
Certification
Oil and gas operations require certified professionals in almost all fields concerned: crane operators, scaffolders, welders, wellhead operators, company man, boat captains, riggers, etc. Candidates are often tempted to present fake certificates, especially when it is mandatory such as BOSIET, HUET, IMIST, etc. Your company needs to resource experienced operators and ensure that the certificates they present are legit.
Pre-employment Medicals
It is a legal requirement in the oil business that all workers must possess a certificate of medical fitness. Due to work pressures and logistical challenges, employers feel compelled sometimes to rush workers to the platform without first conducting pre-employment medicals on them. This can be a serious exposure with many negative ramifications.
Competitive Rates and Timely Payment
In most cases, drilling and workover rig activities are project-based. Consequently, the workers are on fixed term contracts. With the increase in oil and gas activities in Africa and indeed the entire globe, experienced workers are highly sort after. What guarantees their loyalty to a project is the employee value proposition, the value you offer as an end-user to the workers in return for their skills, experience, and commitment.
Most of these projects take place offshore. The personnel work on rotation schedules. They become very uncomfortable when they return home to their families, during their recuperation period, and find themselves waiting for their salaries for several days. This is what drilling workers find the most discouraging.
Trade Union Management
The oil and gas sector in Cameroon has some of the most powerful yet complicated trade unions that any sector can have. They are often connected to people who wield power in the country. They leverage on the fact that oil production is a very sensitive matter to the government, as it is the mainstay of the country and a major political flashpoint. They are also aware of the enormous financial losses shareholders make when rig work is suspended even for a few hours. Therefore, negotiating with trade unions can be a daunting task to drilling companies. However, the secret to success is in the next point.
Employment Contracts and Collective Agreements
The root of 80% of problems that drilling companies face with personnel and their trade unions is in the contracts of employment and the collective agreement. The secret to success is
- to avoid dealing with trade unions directly,
- ensure that employment contracts are as unambiguous as possible,
- define the collective agreement that will be applicable and scrupulously apply it,
- respect local labour regulations
SPETIV Consulting is a strong support to drilling companies in this regard.
Cameroon Work Permit
People of foreign nationality are sometimes required to work on drilling and workover rigs. If this work will span for a period of three months or more, the contract of employment of the worker must be written and approved by the Cameroon Minister of Employment and Vocational Training. This is what is called a work permit. Cameroon law forbids foreigners from taking up certain jobs within the national territory, unless the employer can proof that efforts were made to find a local to no avail.
Cameroon police make sporadic checks and controls on offshore vessels including oil and gas rigs. People of foreign nationality found working without the appropriate documentation (business visa, work permit, resident permit) are either taken into custody or repatriated and serious fines levied on the employer.
Available Support
SPETIV Consulting is available to partner with drilling and workover rig companies and to support them with all labour and administration related matters.
