Shell And Miri Vocational College Mark 25 Years Of Partnership In Technical Skills Development

ProjekLINK is an industrial welder training programme run by the college, with technical and financial support from Shell. It was conceived by Sarawak Shell Berhad in 1989 to develop local technical skills, by raising the standard of welders to internal level through a certification programme.

The event was marked with a ceremony held at the college, witnessed by Datu Len Talif Salleh, assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Promotion of Technical Education), Chok Chee Tsong, Sarawak Shell Berhad’s general manager and Sherene Choo, Miri Vocational College director.

The occasion saw the presentation of certificates for a global Shell award as well as the symbolic handing over for a new welding machine worth RM110,000  from Shell to Miri Vocational College. 

The long term programme received a global Merit Prize from the multi-national oil giant for its positive impact on the industry and local community early this year. Its advisors from Shell were awarded the Shell CEO’s Health, Security, Safety and Environment (HSSE) and Social Performance Award (SP). The company took the opportunity to present the college with a replica certificate in appreciation of their long standing cooperation in the programme’s delivery.

Len applauded Shell’s early initiative in developing ProjekLINK, which he said, “has a direct impact in transforming the local community into skilled and qualified welders who are in high demand.”

He commended the efforts made by Shell to invest in the local youth. “This will definitely have a positive impact and contribute towards our aspiration to achieve high-income nation status.”

According to Len, technical skills education was increasingly relevant to the development of the economy as the country moved towards industrialisation.  “Our youth need to have bigger ambitions and to achieve this, they need to be technically educated. These are all factors in order for Sarawak to achieve a high per capita income.”

Chok in his speech said that as a responsible oil and gas operator, Shell Malaysia responded to the government’s call to raise technical skills in the state. “Before 1989, most welders employed in the local oil and gas industry were non-Malaysians and the majority were from the neighbouring ASEAN countries thus giving a negative impression on the quality of the local vocational school graduates.”

He said through ProjekLINK, Shell Malaysia has been assisting Miri Vocational College for the past 25 years in training welders to the oil and gas industry’s exacting standards and help produce qualified welders.  He also revealed that the success of the programme has seen its extension to Bintulu, and that they were exploring other opportunities for expansion.

Len commended Shell for its skills training for the local community through programmes such as wells drilling training and operation technician programmes.  He urged other companies to follow this exemplary effort.

After 25 years, ProjekLINK is synonymous with quality welder training programme. The certified welders are very much sought and find employment easily in oil and gas, shipbuilding and fabrication, and other heavy industries. 

Through ProjekLINK Miri, over 800 competent welders have been trained with more having undergone the programme in Bintulu and previously in Kota Kinabalu. This has added to the numbers of skilled human capital in Malaysia, contributing towards the requirements to support SCORE and ETP.

The multi-national’s focus on technical skills development and safety has led to the development of a programme called PRESTIGE or Practical, Environmental, Safety and Industrial Guidance for young Engineers – a comprehensive workshop incorporating activities and scenarios designed to test students’ ability to understand and apply HSE concepts, incorporating best practices and application in the workplace with real-world examples.  Started six years ago, PRESTIGE has benefitted more than 400 engineering undergraduates from UNIMAS and UMS in East Malaysia. The programme is also run in the Peninsular.

Enquiries:

Upstream Communications, Shell Malaysia Exploration & Production

Zulkifli Baba Noor

Zulkifli.BabaNoor@shell.com

About Shell CEO’s HSSE & SP Awards

The Shell CEO’s HSSE & Social Performance Awards were launched in 2007 to reward outstanding efforts, at an individual or team level, towards improving and sustaining Shell’s HSSE & Social Performance.  Social performance was added to the Awards’ scope in 2009 to acknowledge how working with local communities contributes to Shell’s business success. This includes the work Shell people are doing to run existing operations or to deliver new projects by gaining and maintaining the trust of communities and other external stakeholders.  The Awards are a way of recognising those who are contributing to sustained HSSE & SP performance and motivating others to replicate good practice.  The excellence in Social Performance is given to individuals or teams who are helping Shell gain and maintain its social licence to operate through exceptional work with local communities and other local stakeholders. 

About Shell

Shell is a global leader in power, energy, innovation and gas technology and is working to meet increasing energy demand and supply challenges by delivering smarter products and cleaner energy, smarter infrastructure, smarter use, and by developing new energy sources while addressing the impact on the environment, through cleaner burning natural gas and advanced fuels and lubricants technology.

Malaysia is one of Shell’s heartlands. The history of Royal Dutch Shell in Malaysia started more than 120 years in Miri, Sarawak. Shell currently has a strong market presence in the upstream and downstream sector in Malaysia.

Being at the forefront of energy and fuel efficiency, Shell advocates for the use of energy more innovative and efficiently as the simplest and most cost-effective way to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change through driver education, fuel efficient driving behaviour, and smarter mobility collaboration and strategic partnerships to fuel the country’s progress.

As Shell aims to meet the world’s future energy needs with a diversified energy mix and cleaner energy, we enjoin consumers and businesses to use energy better, to do more with less, and make energy conservation a way of life.

At our operations, safety is our top priority.  Our goal is to have zero fatalities and no incidents that cause harm to our people and neighbours and put our facilities at risk.  We aim to address social concerns and work to benefit local communities, protecting our reputation as we do business.

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