Employees from across Ventia's Rig & Well Services business visited remote work sites on International Women's Day to provide a fresh perspective on attracting and retaining women in field-based roles.

Seventeen women travelled to Moranbah and Surat in Queensland to take part in gender engagement discussions with our clients and workforces.
 
The women represented a diverse selection of typically office-based roles that support our operational teams including finance, administration, marketing, commercial and purchasing...
 
Ashley James, BHP's Manager Geoscience Operations met our team in Moranbah for discussions before a tour of the rig site with Alanna Spence, a female Driller in our Rig & Well Services business.
 
Alanna joined Ventia as an Offsider in 2018 before becoming a Senior Offsider and then a Driller in 2021. She shared her story and insights on how she has succeeded in the resources industry.

Ashley said BHP has a goal to achieve gender balance in their operations by 2025.

Since our commitment to gender balance in 2016, we've nearly doubled the number of women working in our business and I can feel the energetic shift. Our progress has largely been achieved through a focus on foundation items such as mitigating bias in our recruitment and promotion processes; embedding flexibility for all roles; and having a consistent focus and open conversation on respectful behaviours.

"This visit was as energising for my team as it was for our visitors! A great opportunity to break the bias that field-work is too tough or not family-friendly enough for women; these are incredible career opportunities for everyone."
 
Ventia's General Manager for Rig & Well Services, Kyle Koziol said Ventia works hard to improve the representation of women across the business, through gender pay parity, workplace flexibility options and diversity and inclusion programs, but more effort is needed to understand what can be done to better support women in field-based roles.
 

"Our Rig & Well Services teams are committed to ensuring anyone in office-based roles visit the field in the next four months. By seeking fresh perspectives and feedback of our team members, we can identify opportunities for change to ensure women in our workforce are comfortable in their roles and are set up for success."