Women excel in trade-based roles
DESPITE its reputation as a "boys' club", currently 11% of staff on Curtis Island are women.
Five hundred and seventy-four women work across the three projects on the island and, while the majority are in non-manual roles, many also work in trade-based roles.
These include 69 operator/drivers, 27 equipment mechanics, three boilermakers and three electricians.
There are also some women working in other roles such as carpenters, diesel fitters, form workers, concreters and mechanical fitters.
"Women are a real force to be reckoned with in the construction industry these days, particularly as technology plays a bigger and bigger role," Bechtel Gladstone general manager Kevin Berg said.
"For instance, some of the very best welders I've seen are women and many have earned great reputations as machinery operators.
"They really do play a very important role in every aspect of the construction industry."
