Lucas Allan
Health and Safety Apprentice at Dales Marine
Why I like this job
“The best thing about this job for me is probably the difference in what you're doing every day. Every day is different. You've got your set things you do daily, like permits, making sure everybody's safe, making sure they're wearing their PPE, everything's signed off, everybody's happy with what they're doing.
But then there's the side where you're learning all the time. You get something to learn every time a new boat comes in. They're all the same, but they're all different! Every day's a challenge, and that's what pushes me to learn more.”
My route to get this job
“I had offers from Glasgow and Strathclyde for business, but I didn't actually know what I wanted to do. I was just applying for the sake of applying. Part of me thought I should just go to uni because that's what everybody does.
My dad's worked as a contractor with Dales, so I already knew about the company. Then there was a careers event at my school, a month or two before finishing. I saw Charlie, the health and safety advisor, and I said to myself, if I don't say something now, I never will. So I went up and told him straight: I want this job.
Within two weeks I had an interview, then a second, and I was in. I liked that I was going to be earning money and getting experience from day one. You can't buy experience.”
Why I like working at Dales Marine:
“It's very fast-paced. You've got a boat in every week. Right now we've got the Waverley alongside and that's going to be a lot of heavy work, but it's an old boat, so you're learning different things about different boats. You get to see the industry from a Scottish point of view, because it's all boats that are supplying people and stuff around Scotland.
We're an island. If there's no boats and we're not servicing them, then there's going to be nothing around Scotland. So the fact that we're actually servicing boats that are supplying stuff around Scotland, it's benefiting other people, not just ourselves.
That's quite a rewarding factor of Dales, that we're actually doing something for the good. This is going to bring longevity to the Highlands and to Scotland as a whole.”