Profile Story on Henriette Hansen

I am experiencing some problems with my blog. I am not able to upload pictures at the moment. So instead of a post on South Korea I have uploaded a profile story I wrote for my Feature Writing class.

One chilly winter morning in Norway, 15-year-old Henriette Hansen announced to her classmates that she aspired to become a process technician. “A process technician,” she vaguely explained, “is someone who works in the oil industry and makes pretty good money”.

Henriette's declaration was made at the time when she and her peers had to decide where and what type of upper secondary school to attend, so announcements of this character were not uncommon. However, Henriette’s choice surprised her friends. “But, you don’t even like maths,” one exclaimed. “Or physics, or chemistry,” another added.

On the contrary Henriette had always been the one who loved drawing and painting, receiving great praise and top marks for her art projects. Because of this her friends did not take her announcement too seriously. They thought she would soon change her mind.

Henriette was not particularly affected by the lack of support from her classmates. She had for some time been uncertain about what career direction to take, feeling the more creative alternatives held uncertain job prospects. The oil industry seemed like a safe option with a lot of opportunities. “And maybe”, she told herself, “I’ll even end up really liking it”.

Today Henriette has just turned 21, a birthday she celebrated while working night shifts on an oil rig in the North Sea. She has been employed as a process technician by the oil giant BP for three years, including two as a paid part of her training.

“A process technician,” she explains confidently, “is a person who monitors a process. At the Valhall oil field we observe, control and regulate the production of oil and gas. Maintaining an economic and safe production is one of our main objectives”.

Henriette easily got work after the completion of her studies at Stavanger Offshore Technical School. Because qualified people, and especially women, are in high demand in the oil industry, Henriette had a job before she had even turned 18, the legal age to work offshore. “I was receiving my first pay check before I had even been to work,” she laughingly recalls.

The offshore oil industry is mainly dominated by men. In Henriette’s section, only six out of 48 are women, most of them younger than 30. “It would have been nice to have a girl I could confide in and talk to on my shifts. I cannot explain everything to the guys”.

Women are often worried that working offshore will conflict with family life. This is despite the greater benefits Norwegian oil workers receive compared to peers in other oil-producing countries. Norwegian offshore oil workers spend two weeks at work followed by four weeks of holidays, in theory only working for four months of the year.

This work rotation is one of Henriette’s favourite parts of the job. Together with her generous pay check, it gives her the time and economic freedom to pursue her love of traveling.

But she also emphasises that too much free time can be tough to handle. She has therefore chosen to use two of her four weeks off to pursue further studies in her field at a technical college. “I always wanted to study more and at least it gives me something to do when I am at home.”

Some people envy Henriette her large pay checks and long holidays, but working offshore is not always as breezy as it might sound. The two weeks she is at the oil rig she works 12- hour shifts for all 14 days, half on the night shift. Often she also works during major holidays and other important dates. Last year she was in the control room monitoring the Valhall oil field on Christmas and New Year’s, and just recently, her 21st birthday was celebrated in the same fashion.

“It’s not fun to be somewhere in the North Sea when you know everyone at home is having a great time with celebrations and festivities, but I guess that’s a downside of this job you just have to deal with.”

Her work can also be downright scary. She particularly recalls one night when there was a hurricane. The waves were extremely high and a warning signal had been issued. If the waves became half a meter higher the rig would have to have been evacuated. The hotel rooms onshore were already booked and the helicopters were on standby, ready to leave.

“I was lying in my bed when I woke up from a powerful thump. The whole rig was lifted up and then it leaned over heavily to one side, before bouncing back and leaning towards the other side,” she says, shuddering from the memory. “I was sure it was going to tilt.”

Henriette did not sleep much that night, feeling every wave that hit the usually rigid rig. “I was stiff from fear. I didn’t dare to move”.

The next morning Henriette got to see the enormous damages. She recalls how there was a hole in the deck where people could have fallen to the sea. But even more serious was that one of the lifeboats had been shattered. “There wouldn’t have been enough seats for everyone if there had been an emergency situation.”

The management changed its evacuation practice after that. The threshold is today much lower for when to evacuate. Henriette is therefore hoping she will never have to endure anything similar again.

“I had many nightmares after this where I dreamt the rig was going to tilt. Even though everyone got help to work through their feelings, some people ended up taking sick leave. One person didn’t return before after a year”.

Henriette still has these nightmares from time to time, but she does not regret her career choice. She loves her challenging work and the lifestyle it brings with it.

Few people would have predicted this outcome when she made her announcement that chilly winter morning five years ago. And even today some friends have a hard time recognizing that the girl in the inflammable overalls wearing the bright orange safety helmet is Henriette.

“I love my work. Of course I missed out on certain things by making the choice I did, but that’s just the way it is,” she says. “You have to let go of some dreams in order obtain others”.

02.11.2008 Hege Gabrielsen Forsvoll