Find out how people-related issues are having a major impact on project schedules and cost overruns in a ground-breaking report, brought to you by Air Energi and Queensland University of Technology.

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Authors: Karen Becker & Michelle Smidt | Date: 31 January 2014
Workforce Related Project Risks
Findings Report

2. Contents
Introduction 1
Background 2
A Growing Industry 2
Why People are Critical to the Industry and Projects 4
Skills Shortages 4
An Ageing Workforce 6
Why the Research was Undertaken 7
How the Research was Undertaken 7
Overview of the Report 7
Project Appeal 8
Recruitment 9
Induction and Onboarding 10
Retention 11
Reassignment and Demobilisation 12
Compliance 13
Workforce Risk Management 14
Conclusion and Recommendations 16

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Introduction
Air Energi is proud to have partnered with Queensland University of Technology to research potential workforce
risks as they relate to Oil and Gas projects particularly involving a contract workforce. This report presents the
key findings of the research which has enabled the development of a framework to comprehensively assess
the workforce related risks involved in specific industry projects.
With the exception of Workforce Health and Safety, risk management frameworks and processes have yet to
be consistently and systematically applied to the area of people related or workforce risks. This may be due
to the difficulty in calculating and estimating such risks and their potential financial impact on overall business
results. However, workforce related risks will greatly influence the extent to which projects can be completed
on time and within budget.
The ageing of the workforce is one current challenge which could have a major impact on whether projects
come undone. As such, the retention of critical knowledge especially on Oil and Gas projects is a primarily
challenge which, to be effectively addressed, requires a combination of both retention and attraction strategies.
Although this report has an Australian focus, with contributors ranging from operational managers, HR
managers, project managers, advisory personnel, and contractors, the experts consulted have extensive
global experience dealing with contract workers and projects in the Oil and Gas industry. Therefore, the
findings in this report will be equally applicable to other regions undertaking Oil and Gas projects.
Furthermore, although the focus of the research was risks relating to projects with a contract workforce, a
number of the results are likely to be equally relevant to permanent personnel.
Air Energi and QUT thank all the participants who took the time to share their knowledge and contribute to
this research. We are pleased to present the findings in this report to our industry partners globally to utilise
in their future decision making and planning.
Matthew Smith – Air Energi
Dr Karen Becker - QUT
Authors: Karen Becker & Michelle Smidt
Date: February 2014

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Background
A Growing Industry
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)1
the demand for Oil and Gas is predicted to increase
steadily in the coming years. This is illustrated in the graph below from the IEA.2
As shown in the graph, based on the New Policies Scenario3
, both Oil and Gas consumption is predicted to
increase through to 2035. If this prediction comes to fruition, the number of Oil and Gas projects can be
expected to increase in order to meet consumption particularly as older facilities require replacing.
The extent to which operators will be able to deliver this supply will depend largely on the manpower and
skills available to execute the necessary Oil and Gas projects. The data from the Australian Workforce and
Productivity Agency (AWPA)4
demonstrates the surge currently occurring in resource project construction
before progressing through the lifecycle to oil and gas operations in Australia. With an increase in the number
of projects globally whether it is deep water offshore or onshore shale plays, the demand for skilled workers
is expected to follow a similar trend in project locations.
1
International Energy Agency, 2013, Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2013 -- Market Trends and Projections to 2018, OECD/IEA
2
International Energy Agency, 2013, Key World Energy Statistics
3
New Policies Scenario: A scenario in the World Energy Outlook that takes account of broad policy commitments and plans that have been
announced by countries, including national pledges to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and plans to phase out fossil-energy subsidies, even
if the measures to implement these commitments have yet to be identified or announced. This broadly serves as the IEA baseline scenario.
http://www.iea.org/publications/scenariosandprojections/
4
Deloitte Access Economics, 2013, Modelling employment demand and supply in the Resources Sector, report commissioned by the Australian
Workforce and Productivity Agency, awpa.gov.au.
Total Primary Energy Consumption (TPES) by Fuel
Source: IEA, 2013, Key World Energy Statistics, 20132
1990 2011 NPS 450S NPS 450S NPS 450S NPS 450S
2020 2025 2030 2035
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
18000
NPS: New Policies Scenario
(based on policies under consideration)
450S: 450 Scenario***
(based on policies needed to limit global average
temperature increase to 2°C)
Coal/Peat Oil* Natural Gas Nuclear Hydro Other**

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As shown in the graph, Oil and Gas operations are predicted to experience the highest levels of growth in the
three areas of the Resources sector in Australia which reflects the lifecycle progression of the current LNG
boom through till 2018. Although some skills may be transferred from other sectors as their labour demand
slows, it is uncertain whether this will be enough to meet the future labour needs of Oil and Gas operations.
Although the graph above shows Australian data, it is expected that the global skill and labour requirements
for Oil and Gas projects internationally will also increase and place substantial demands on an already tight
labour market. These figures suggest that the global situation and future of the Oil and Gas industry in
relation to attracting and retaining a skilled workforce is a key imperative.
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
450,000
2013
85,819
236,690
38,943
361,452
2014
118,825
238,537
44,087
401,449
2015
107,710
243,525
49,908
401,143
2016
70,903
249,111
55,349
375,363
2017
49,325
252,456
58,666
360,448
2018
28,857
254,260
61,212
344,328
Projected Employment Level by Resources Industry Sector, Base Case, 2013–18
Source: DAE, 2013, Modelling employment demand and supply in the Resources Sector5
5
Deloitte Access Economics, 2013, Modelling employment demand and supply in the Resources Sector, report commissioned by the Australian
Workforce and Productivity Agency, awpa.gov.au.
EmploymentLevel
Mining OperationsResources Project Construction TotalOil & Gas Operations

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Occupation 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
1331 Construction Managers -19 -20 -20 -15 -14
1332 Engineering Managers -61 -69 -67 -49 -44
1335 Production Managers -127 -146 -142 -104 -93
2322 Cartographers and Surveyors -18 -21 -20 -13 -11
2332 Civil Engineering Professionals -48 -58 -55 -33 -24
2333 Electrical Engineers -22 -27 -26 -14 -9
2513 Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals -45 -54 -52 -31 -24
Subtotal -371 -433 -418 -279 -233
6
Australian Mining, Mar. 2013, http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/features/mining-s-graduating-workforce-a-plug-for-the-skill and
Queensland Government, Nov. 2013, http://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/csg-lng-industry/csg-lng-skills-workforce-development
7
The Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency, Dec. 2013, Resources sector skills needs 2013
Source: AWPA, Dec. 2013, Resources sector skills needs 2013 7
Why People are Critical to the Industry and Projects
Despite the growing demand, the future of growth for the industry remains uncertain. Past projects have
encountered their share of challenges; cost overruns, workforce issues, and fierce competition for resources
have triggered numerous project delays and even cancellations.
From the research, the underlying causes of many of the issues encountered in the course of Oil and
Gas projects seem to be workforce related. The industry’s relatively atypical project-based structure draws
on a largely contract workforce that creates unique challenges; the solutions to which cannot be directly
transferred from other industries.
There are concerns that not being able to get the right people at the right time for the right cost could
inevitably threaten the overall delivery of projects on time and within budget. Ultimately, this could prevent
the industry from living up to high expectations and predictions of growth. There are a number of critical
workforce issues facing the industry at present. Two key challenges include a key skills shortage and an
ageing workforce; both of which present significant risk to the industry.
Skill Shortages
An acute skills shortage means a lack of domestic talent6
forcing companies to consider international
avenues for recruitment. However this is not always a viable solution, with employers struggling to find the
right people, even overseas, and mobilise them quickly and compliantly to meet needs. In a project-based
environment this inability to secure appropriate workers to meet needs can have major impacts on
schedules and subsequently drive up costs. The extent of skills shortages is illustrated in the table below
from AWPA, which shows that shortages are expected for the majority of professional and managerial roles
in Australia alone, with the greatest shortage forecasted to occur in 2015 and 2016.7
Projected supply–demand balance for selected Resources Sector occupations, Oil and Gas Operations, 2014–18

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8
ABS, Sep. 2013, Reported occupation shortages by industry, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/8167.0~2011-12~Main+Features
~Skills?OpenDocument. In this report to standard ABS category Mining have been labelled “Resources”.
9
Air Energi, 2013, LNG Talent Pool data, Levels of Experience
Additionally, the graph below illustrates the occupation shortages for different industries. As shown, the main
shortages experienced in the Resources sector are in the areas of transport & logistics, operations, trades and
engineering. Needless to say these roles are critical to the Oil and Gas industry and the ability to successfully
execute projects.
The need to address skills shortages is further supported
by data provided by Air Energi (see graph right) which
shows that the majority (over 50%) of the global
contract workforce hold 31 years of experience or more
whereas only 3% have 0-10 years of experience in their
field.9
This indicates a difficulty finding new candidates
with the necessary skills and experience, however this
graph also hints at another issue facing the industry;
the ageing of this workforce.
Source: ABS, Reported occupation shortages by industry, Sep. 2013.8
Manufacturing
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
18%
Construction Resources
Manufacturing
Scientific & Research
IT Professionals
IT Support Technicians
Trades
Transport, Plant &
Machinery Operation
Marketing
Project Management
Business Management
Financial
Expert
(31+)
Principal
(21-30)
Senior
(11-20)
Junior
(0-10)
3%
19%
27%
51%
Source: Air Energi 2013.9

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10
ABS, Nov. 2013, An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future - Commission research paper (Word/ZIP - 2662 Kb)
11
Australian Government, Aug. 2012, http://jobsearch.gov.au/documents/20120705miningoutlook.pdf. It should be noted that the statistics for the
LNG industry in the graph below were added to the ABS statistics. This data was provided by Air Energi and includes a total of 989 workers in the
LNG workforce globally as of 2013. As such it provides a good representation of the trend for the LNG industry however the sample size is not as
extensive as the ones for the Resources industry and all other industries provided by the ABS.
An Ageing Workforce
Although many industries have been aware of the ageing of the workforce for some time, it still remains one
of the key obstacles to obtaining and retaining the skills required for projects. According to the Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS) “the population aged 75 or more years is expected to rise by 4 million from 2012 to
2060, increasing from about 6.4 to 14.4 per cent of the population”.10
This will not only decrease the talent
pool from which companies can hire but also increase the number of people retiring; often taking critical
skills, knowledge and experience with them.
The graph below illustrates the age distribution of the contract LNG industry and the Resources sector
compared to other industries11
, and clearly shows that the LNG industry workforce alone does have an
overwhelming percentage of workers aged 45 and above when compared to the rest of the Resources
sector and all other industries. This confirms the concern that the required skills and experience may be lost
once the current workforce retires. In addressing this, the challenges relate to retaining the vital skills and
extensive expertise of the mature workforce and sharing their knowledge with the younger workforce.
Source: Australian Government, Aug. 2012, http://jobsearch.gov.au/documents/20120705miningoutlook.pdf
and international data from Air Energi.10
15-19
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Mining All Industries Oil & Gas (Air Energi data)
20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

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Why the Research was Undertaken
The skills shortage combined with the ageing of the workforce present serious concerns for companies
when initiating, executing, and completing Oil and Gas projects. Because of the significance and potential
impact of the workforce issues, Air Energi Group partnered with Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
to develop a comprehensive method of identifying and reducing workforce risks as they relate to Oil and Gas
projects involving a contract workforce.
The research involved identifying different risks connected with a contract workforce during the exploration,
execution and demobilisation phases of a major project. These risks are broadly categorised into six core
areas: project appeal, recruitment, onboarding and induction, retention, demobilisation, and compliance.
How the Research was Undertaken
The research undertaken consisted of interviews with a panel of industry experts and was granted ethics
approval by the QUT Human Ethics Committee (QUT approval number: 1300000676) in line with standard
ethical guidelines and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (Australian Government,
2007).
The interviews were designed to collect data from a cross-section of experts ranging from operational
managers, HR managers, advisory personnel, and contractors with extensive global experience in dealing
with contractors on Oil and Gas projects. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to determine the
critical workforce related risks in projects involving a contract workforce.
All interviews were transcribed verbatim and then analysed using QSR NVivo®
10 software to identify and
explore the key themes emerging from the data. This allowed for a thorough analysis of the main workforce
related risks. The results are outlined in the following report.
Overview of the Report
The purpose of this report is to document the key findings of the research undertaken to identify the critical
challenges and risks on projects that employ contract workers. Each section of this report highlights a core
area of risk identified in the research, which is then broken down further to specific key issues. The risks
relating to each area are then identified. It should be noted that for all the areas, the major overarching risk
is being unable to deliver the project on time and within budget.

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Project Appeal
Attracting the right talent (skills, experience and temperament) at the right
time is important to any organisation. However the issue of attracting and
securing that talent becomes even more critical when managing projects.
Because projects operate to achieve a particular goal on a planned timeline,
being able to attract the right skills at the right time is crucial if the project is
to be delivered on time and within budget.
The attraction of candidates will depend on the attractiveness of the project
itself. This includes factors such as duration of project, remuneration and
benefits, location, employer brand of operating company, roster, and the
phase of the project. Summarised below are the key factors to consider when
attracting talent.
Key Issue What It Means
Location
The appeal of the project location will depend on whether the location is
considered safe, if taxation arrangements are favourable, and whether there
is a high number of competing projects in the same location.
Company image Having a positive company brand and being known as an attractive employer.
Incentives
The ability to offer long contracts, appealing rosters, substantial benefits,
competitive rates, and an exciting phase in the project life cycle.
Work environment
Having an appealing mix of contractors and staff on the project, offering a
positive work environment as well as unique and stimulating opportunities and
tasks.
Key Risks
Failing to consider the project appeal issues identified presents the following
key risks:
• Failure or difficulty attracting the needed skills, experience and
temperaments
• Inability to get the best people available
• Lack of required skills to meet project requirements
• Project delays
• Greater number of errors and reduced quality of outputs
I guess the challenge
is us, as a company,
having the right level of
opportunities that will
attract that person’s
interests.
“
”
The challenges are the
timing element… getting
the best people available
at that time that are
interested in working at
that location; and that
can be easy or remarkably
hard, depending on
market conditions.
“
”

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Key Risks
Failing to address the recruitment issues identified presents the following key
risks:
• Failure to acquire needed skills and experience for critical/general
roles
• Higher likelihood of not being able to attract and secure talent
• Increased chance of losing candidates prior to project commencement
• Hiring candidates with questionable credentials and lack of
experience
Recruitment
The ability to access and secure the required talent in a timely and systemised
fashion is another critical factor in ensuring successful project completion.
Being effective will depend on the level of formalised systems and procedures
and clarity of responsibilities to ensure that the right people are hired for the
project. Below are the key recruitment issues.
Quite often, the people
who come in are not
given the correct image
of what we are actually
asking.
“
”Key Issue What It Means
Clarity of needs
The degree to which there is clarity of the technical and soft skills needed for
the project and individual roles.
Necessary processes and
procedures
Whether necessary processes and procedures are in place to attract
candidates in a smooth and errorfree way.
Skills shortage
Whether skills are available to meet demand. The need to compete with other
projects hiring from the same limited pool of talent can mean a shortage of
critical skills.
Filling critical roles
The ability to identify and fill key roles with the right skills and attitudes in a
timely manner.
Quality of local talent
The degree to which local talent with required level of skills exists and is
available.
Time to fill The time it takes from when talent is identified to when the role is filled.
References checks The extent to which reference checking is a formal and thorough process.
Managing expectations
The ability to set and manage expectations of contractors to avoid
misunderstanding, conflict and disruptions.
Internal client policies/
requirements
The level of compliance required from prescribed internal policies and
guidelines regardless of location or project.
Expanding the talent pool
Avoiding reliance on a limited number of people to allow for the introduction
of new talent.
Securing acceptance
Securing acceptance of role/offer and getting candidates signed on in a timely
manner.
National culture awareness
Awareness of national culture and the potential impact on working
relationships is required at all levels as projects operate in various locations
and often employ multiple nationalities, ethnicities and religions.
Lead-in time has been
much longer than I
would have envisaged.
“
”

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Induction & Onboarding
The induction and onboarding process to make new employees productive
has long been a common feature of hiring permanent staff. The induction
process can include everything from general orientation and introductions to
transmission of the company culture and “the way we do things”. However,
the induction and onboarding of contractors often does not receive the same
attention and dedication as that of permanent staff. This is perhaps not
surprising as the induction and onboarding of temporary staff comes with unique challenges, especially with
project-based work. Summarised below are some of the key issues in relation to induction and onboarding
as identified by the expert panel through this research.
The first challenge with
on-boarding is that it’s not
there.
“
”
Key Issue What It Means
Use of formal induction process
Whether formal and standard induction processes are in place to help
contractors settle in to a new country/location and/or become familiar with
organisational policies and procedures.
Organisational cultural
alignment
Achieving cultural alignment between the company values and the values and
behaviours of the contractor. Introducing softer skills and attitudes expected
to be portrayed in the role, and in the organisation.
Time requirement
Recognising the amount of time required to take the contractors through
induction before they become productive.
Upskilling/training
Allowing time for upskilling or training for contractors without the necessary
experience or knowledge, or for contractors who have been promoted to a
higher level position.
Industry experience
Addressing any cynicism of experienced contractors when conveying the
company values and culture.
Key Risks
Failing to address the induction and onboarding issues identified presents the
following key risks:
• A higher likelihood of health and safety or general organisational
policy breaches due to lack of awareness and understanding
• Lack of fit with company culture and expectations
• Damage to company image and reputation
• Lack of required skills to meet project requirements
Certainly with contract
workers, there’s a lot
about motivation, having
to understand what the
project is about, what the
company is about, and
making them support that
and become aligned with
that. That’s important;
that’s quite a big
challenge.
“
”

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Key Risks
Failing to address the retention issues identified presents the following key
risks:
• Higher risk of losing talent to competitors’ projects before the end of
their contract
• Losing critical project knowledge
• Higher degree of dissatisfaction and disengagement
• Higher turnover rate
• Delays to project deadlines
• Reduced quality of outputs and damage to company brand
Retention
Once contractors have been selected and hired, being able to retain them
becomes the next challenge. Being able to retain employees is important for
many reasons such as justifying training expenses, preserving knowledge, and
building expertise. As such, the retention of talent was identified as another
important factor for project success. This becomes somewhat more difficult
to attain on projects with contract workers. There are multiple challenges that
can affect the ability to retain talent. These have been listed below.
You are always at risk
that that person could
leave, if someone came
headhunting and had a
better offer tomorrow.
“
”Key Issue What It Means
Loyalty
Achieving loyalty and commitment from contractors to company and project
goals.
Management support and style
Recognising the impact of management style and support for retaining
contractors.
Career development
opportunities
Whether attractive roles, opportunities and training are offered as a way to
retain contractors.
Poaching
Competitors targeting contractors with offers of higher wages, bigger projects,
or better conditions.
Knowledge management/
retention
Retaining critical knowledge when people leave during projects.
Alignment with company
culture
Achieving coherence and fit between individual and organisational culture and
values.
Equity
Avoiding inconsistency in remuneration and benefits for people in the same or
similar roles.
Staff vs contractor benefits
Managing the difference between the benefits offered to staff versus
contractors.
Personal circumstances
Allowing for the fact that contractors may leave for personal reasons, e.g.
illness, family commitments, desire to travel.
Taxation
Considering local taxation level and requirements in comparisons to other
locations.
It’s always a risk that as
different people leave,
you are going to have that
corporate knowledge go
out the door…
“
”

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Key Risks
Failing to address the reassignment and demobilisation issues identified
presents the following key risks:
• A higher likelihood of losing critical knowledge before project
completion
• Leaking of sensitive project information to competitors
• Damage to company image and reputation
• Higher risk of sabotage to equipment and information
• Loss of critical knowledge and talent required for future projects
Reassignment & Demobilisation
Each stage of a project presents its own unique challenges. The stage that
received the most attention and poses the most challenges is the demobilisation
stage. This may be attributed to the fact that it presents the highest risk in
terms of resources and time invested. However, it also seemed to be the most
fragile stage due to reliance on contract workers to effectively complete the
project.
The greatest risk to a
project is losing people in
the final throes.
“
”Key Issue What It Means
Project completion
Retaining people with the skills and knowledge and ensuring their
engagement and commitment until the end of the project.
Continuity
Being able to keep contractors between projects who possess the skills and
experience needed for future projects.
Client/labour hire agency
relationship
The nature of the relationship between the organisation and labour hire
agency. Ensuring the labour hire agency understands client requirements.
Identifying skills and
capabilities for future use
Ability to identify skills and capabilities of contractors to be able to place them
in future roles and projects.
Succession planning The extent to which succession planning procedures include contractors.
Reputation control
Limiting and preventing damage to company reputation as a result of
discontent contractors.
Confidentiality
Attaining confidentiality of sensitive information when contractors leave
projects.
Sabotage Preventing and managing sabotage by dissatisfied contractors.
I think that’s always going
to be a high-risk period of
time (the end)… making
sure that when you are
downsizing, which has
to occur, that you are
able to keep the right
people with the right mix
of skills to close down all
the documentation and
do whatever needs to be
done.
“
”

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Compliance
In any workplace there are always legal and organisational requirements
that create a need for compliance. This is no different on projects,
however the makeup of projects often create more layers and factors
to consider especially when using contractors. Such factors include
complying with the legal requirements of the location and country but
also internal organisational policies. For a project to be successful in
all aspects it needs to be run and managed correctly to ensure legal
compliance. To do so requires attention to a range of issues outlined
below.
Key Issue What It Means
Clarity of responsibilities
Clarifying the distribution of responsibilities between the organisation and the
labour hire agency.
Country requirements
Ensuring compliance with legal requirements of the country/location such as
Visa and work permits, local hire policies, insurances, tax, superannuation,
leave etc.
Organisational policies
Enforcing organisational policies such as anti-bribery, corruption, fitness
of work, health and safety, internal hiring policies and performance
management.
Contracts of employments
Ensuring that contracts are correct and in place for contractors before they
commence work.
Insurance
Clarifying insurance cover for contractors: organisation or labour hire agency
responsibility.
Key Risks
Failing to address the compliance issues identified presents the following
key risks:
• A higher likelihood of non-compliance with legal requirements
• Greater risk of general organisational policy breaches
• Risk of legal actions
• Risk of being denied future access to location and country
• Loss of future business
• Damage to company brand and image
• Not meeting project deadlines
That’s another area where we
have to ensure that we are
compliant, predominantly with
our own policies; although
some locations and some
work sites will have particular
policies that we will need to
comply with as well.
“
”
Complying with immigration
and right to work requirements
is probably number one.
Second to that, we often have
a lot of challenges around our
fitness for work issues and that
could be things from alcohol-
related policies through to
actual physical fitness, to be
working on site.
“
”

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Workforce Risk Management
The findings of this research have enabled the development of a comprehensive tool to identify and analyse
the potential workforce related risks for Oil and Gas projects particularly involving a contract workforce. This
tool can be used at any stage of a project from the planning phase through to completion. It can also be
used several times for the same project in order to benchmark current and previous results and evaluate risk
management efforts.
By means of a multi-entry online survey (consisting of over 90 questions) an overall Workforce Risk profile
can be developed for a particular project. Through the survey, different people with insight into a particular
project can provide their assessment and rating of the various workforce-related risks. Individuals likely
to complete the survey include: HR managers, project managers, team supervisors, quality managers,
construction managers, operations managers, engineers and other individuals with critical/unique project
knowledge.
The combined responses from several individuals allow for a more accurate and balanced identification of the
current and potential workforce-related risks.
The overall Workforce Risk profile for a project is based on the ratings provided for each of the key workforce
related risk areas: Project Appeal, Recruitment, Induction & Onboarding, Retention, Mobilisation and
Compliance.
Below is a sample of the questions used to identify the workforce related risks on a project. Refer to page
14 for an illustration of results.

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Induction & Onboarding
Using weighted responses, workforce related risks are rated on two scales; risk and uncertainty.
• The risk ranking of a project is based on the actual ratings provided by the respondents completing
the survey.
• The uncertainty ranking is determined by calculating the variations in the responses received by the
various individuals who completed the survey. By including the uncertainty element, any significant
differences in risk ratings can be highlighted and steps can then be taken to clarify and address
these.
Using these two rankings combined allows for each risk area to be plotted onto a graph creating the risk
profile.
In the example shown below, the combined risk level for each of these areas results in the overall rating of
low for the key risk area of Project Appeal. Risk areas positioned anywhere in the lower left quadrant would
be considered low risk.
Risk areas positioned in the lower right quadrant are areas which have consistently been rated as high risk.
Any areas falling into this quadrant require organisational attention and development of appropriate strategies
to mitigate these risks.
In addition, any risk areas positioned in the two upper quadrants would indicate a level of disagreement in
the perceptions of the workforce risks facing the project. This would highlight a need for further analysis to
determine the actual risks and as well as strategies to address these. For further information about the
research or the tool, please contact Air Energi.
Project Appeal
Recruitment
UncertaintyRanking
Risk Ranking
High Uncertainty
Low Risk
High Uncertainty
High Risk
High Risk
Low Uncertainty
Low Risk
Low Uncertainty
Project Appeal
Location
Company Image
Incentives
Work Environment
1.5 1.5
1.3 1.6
3.8 1.7
3.8 1.7
2.2 1.6
RiskRating
SurveyUncertaintyRanking
RiskRating
SurveyUncertaintyRanking
Retention
Demobilisation Compliance

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Conclusions and Recommendations
Risk management is by no means a new field; however existing risk management frameworks and processes
have yet to be consistently and systematically applied to the area of people related or workforce risks. As
such, the aim of this research was to initiate the development of a framework to comprehensively assess
the workforce related risks involved globally in Oil and Gas projects involving a contract workforce. However,
many of the outcomes of this research would be equally applicable to permanent personnel.
The results indicated that the major risks exist within the following six core areas:
• Project Appeal
• Recruitment
• Onboarding and Induction
• Retention
• Reassignment & Demobilisation
• Compliance
Addressing each of these will entail examining the elements which make up each individual risk area to
effectively minimise this risk. However the first step in this process is to identity the current level of risk
posed by each of the major areas. This is essentially what the tool will enable organisations to do, taking into
account the assessment of several people working on the same project to get the most balanced overview
of the current and future risks.
Through the identification of workforce risks, decisions can then be made as to whether to Treat, Tolerate,
Transfer or Terminate these, similar to the management of other types of project risks.
We hope the findings of our research and this report will assist organisations to successfully identify and
address risks as they relate to the use of contract workers on projects.

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With more than 30 years’ experience, Air Energi is the trusted people services partner
of choice for clients, consultants and candidates engaged in the global oil and gas
industry. It provides contract, project and permanent hire personnel and expertise to
oil and gas projects and clients worldwide.
Headquartered in Manchester, UK, Air Energi has offices in 35 locations and serves
more than 50 markets worldwide. It has regional hubs in Doha, Qatar; Houston, US;
Brisbane, Australia; and Singapore. For more information, please go to:
www.airenergi.com
Air Consulting Australia Pty Ltd
Level 8, Riverquarter Building, 46 Edward Street,
Brisbane, QLD, 4000
Australia
Phone: +61 7 3056 0900
australia@airenergi.com

20. www.airenergi.com 18
www.airenergi.com
Trusted Expertise to the Oil & Gas Industry