As the standalone Environmental Advisor supporting Bluewater and its assets, Dean has a key advisory role within the HSE team. Dean joined in 2019 and brings vast knowledge in regulatory policy and compliance to the company.  

I studied chemistry at Liverpool University and moved to Aberdeen to pursue a Master's Degree. Following this, I worked in the hotel industry, as a zookeeper, and with Intertek labs in Aberdeen. I joined Intertek as a laboratory technician and later moved into an offshore rotation as senior offshore chemist. Following this, I took a job as an Offshore Environmental Inspector with the UK regulatory body currently known as OPRED: the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning.  Later, I became a senior inspector, leading a team of five environmental inspectors

Net zero by 2050

In 2019 I joined Bluewater as an Environmental Advisor. In this capacity, I am involved in environmental operations on FPSOs, including managing permit applications and auditing compliance with permits, liaising with the regulator, audits, improvement projects, and reviewing and updating environmental procedures. I’m currently working on our net zero plans – we aim to reach net zero by 2050. For end clients, net zero will be increasingly important. Our clients know that when they place a project with Bluewater, they can rest assured that we know and adhere to all regulations to and will make sure the required permits are obtained.  

I’ve also run onshore net zero workshops and developed training and audit manuals for the offshore teams, on environmental regulations that we need to comply with. An important aspect of the work is getting the information that we need so that can demonstrate to regulatory inspectors that we're doing all the right things. We’re researching the best ways of quantifying our emissions and, for example, the environmental performance of the yards that we work with. 

I’m currently undertaking an MSc in Environmental Management, supported by Bluewater. This really adds strings to my bow and goes into management topics such as environment and social governance. It has given me a greater insight into methodologies and a better understanding of the environmental and social governance reporting requirements of the business. I hope to complete my degree around this time next year.

Achieving results effectively

Bluewater is a great company when it comes to looking after staff. There's a very high level of camaraderie. I have arranged several office environmental initiatives, including a beach clean-up and a waste management awareness campaign. The campaign included a poster design competition for the team members' kids, with the winners' prize being the adoption of a dolphin for a year. I'm also on the social Committee in Aberdeen. We organize a variety of social events such as quiz nights and barbecues.

Bluewater seems to be more flexible than larger companies, where getting things done can be challenging: you need to look for people with the right expertise, locate the paperwork, find the right person for approvals... If I need to speak to someone at Bluewater, I can simply call them or pop into their office and have a chat. In this way, we can achieve results effectively.