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stop animal cruelty

what is FIFO?

danish pasterys

stop animal cruelty wrote: »

what is FIFO?

Fly in fly out jobs as in living on site for say 3 weeks fly home for a week.

Slideways

danish pasterys wrote: »

Fly in fly out jobs as in living on site for say 3 weeks fly home for a week.

Fit In or Fcuk Off

aido79

danish pasterys wrote: »

Fly in fly out jobs as in living on site for say 3 weeks fly home for a week.

Otherwise known as fit in or f@#k off because its not for everyone and some people just can't handle it.

stop animal cruelty

danish pasterys wrote: »

Fly in fly out jobs as in living on site for say 3 weeks fly home for a week.

work 3weeks straight and back to lreland again?

Mellor

lol, not back to wherever you are living in australia.
The 3 weeks work is down in the back arse of nowhere. The 1 week off, is usually spent a little closer to reality

irishmover

Just to clarify. 3:1 isn't the only roster for FIFO. There's varying rosters depending on what you do and what company you work for, what state it's in and if it's mining or construction

The most common roster for Mine Surveying in WA that I've seen would be 8:6 whereas in QLD it's been 10:4, 3:1, 2:1 and 8:6 depending on where you work.

So that would be 8 days on 6 days off, 10 days on 4 days off, 3 weeks on 1 week off or 2 weeks on 1 week off. All would be flying you back to your respective base city. Some however offer residential and offer a better remuneration package for staying in the arse end of nowhere

8:6 obviously the best of a bad bunch.

pete4130

My first FIFO roster was 2:2 and it was fantastic. It's great for a good standard of living. Good enough money to enjoy your 2 weeks off and still save a bit. Working for 2 weeks isn't that long.

A guy I used to work with is still doing the 2:2 but instead of living in Western Sydney he now bases himself in Thailand, about 70km outside Bangkok. The company agreed to pay for the flights as it is as cheap or cheaper than his previous commute home (Charter flight from middle of nowhere to Brisbane, domestic flight to Sydney and then a $180 cab ride to western Sydney…so totalling about $1000 each way while flight to Thailand are about $600 return plus the charter flight to Brisbane which is about $400).

He pays $200 rent, cheap living and saving tons of cash.

As the other guys have said, it isn't for everyone. My first experience was getting off a plane in Brisbane, no idea what was going on, how it all worked, taxiing my way to a smaller airport and getting on a tiny 17 seater charter flight to the middle of nowhere, not knowing where to go, who to speak to.
I remember turning the handle to my door, walking in, looking around and feeling like I was in a prison! I adjusted really well to it and its semi normal now. I hate being up here but if I'm working in Sydney I miss being away.
Some guys get out, spend 1 night and get on a bus back to a major airport the next day. It's just not for them.

The social aspect of some jobs/camps can be great too. If you do work FIFO it will probably look something like this:

Your en suite room. This one is pretty bland compared to others (My bed was on wheels so I had to use the broom to stop it rolling around the room).


Camp life - all the "Donga's" (prefab rooms you stay in).




Some camps are nicer than others.


The working environment.








The scenery (central QLD at least).










And the social aspect of a workers camp.

irishmover

Ever live on a KJM camp Pete?

All that looks all too familiar to me... Been 10 months since I worked FIFO.

pete4130

No, don't think so. Just worked around Chinchilla, Dalby, Roma/Injune and Curtis Island.

jackbhoy

Camp life looked ok, until that last pic! Poor baxtart drinking XXXX, that's inhumane stuff and not fit for human consumption. I wouldn't last a day if that was only beer option

hedgehog2

Did'nt know you could have a drink on site.
My brother works 2 months on 1 month off on thecriggs snd onshore drilling in Africa and every camp is a dry camp he has worked on.
Have yee got a gym onsite and Pete whats the food like,how many meals per day etc if you dont mind me asking.

pete4130

It depends on what camp/company you are working for. Most of the camps I've stayed in there are no wet messes/bars and you can bring in as much drink as you like. Some people go overboard and if they cause trouble, they get their accommodation privileges revoked meaning that they can't stay near the work and lose their jobs. It's your responsibility to blow 0.00 BAC in the mornings before work. Most jobs are zero tolerance, so if you blow any breath alcohol, you get a window seat on a bus home.

Other camps aren't near towns and have a wet mess and bringing your own alcohol on site is forbidden. In reality people do bring their own.
I've worked in camps where you were only allowed 3 mid strength beers per night from the bar. You presented your room key and they were ticked off. Lots of people gave out their room keys so it was possible to get as much as you wanted, if you really wanted to spend $3 a beer.

Other camps had open wet messes from 5-7pm then a break so people actually get dinner and open again at 8-9pm. Buy as much as you like and allowed 1 sick pack to take away to your room. Again its your responsibility to blow 0.00 each morning. That particular job was only 8 hours Saturday and no work Sunday. A lot of the guys would stockpile their 6 packs all week and get on it at 2:30pm on a Saturday until the bar opened and then have lots left to start drinking on Sunday morning until the bar opened again at 5pm.

There are dry camps but not all that common. Thats where the 3 mid strength a night comes in, to allow people to have a beer without them getting too out of control.

Depending on the size of the camp there should be at least 1 gym. On Curtis Island there were 1700 guys (the camp was only half full at that point) and they had 3 gyms, basketball court, fitness trainers each night, tennis court, 5 a side football pitch, an outdoor pool and even a sound proof much/jamming room. Iv'e stayed in small 200 man camps where the gym is tiny.

The quality and variety of the food depends on how big the camp is really. Bigger camps will have bigger selections. Curtis Island had the best food I've ever experienced in camps. Racks of Lamb, T bones etc…all really good quality gourmet food too. There is always….always a roast option, mixed veg, rice, foreign dish, selection of cheeses, salads, fruit, deserts, soup and self serve ice cream. Very easy to over eat as there isn't much else to do.
You make your lunch in the evening, or at least I do to save time doing it in the morning. There is bread, salads, chicken drumsticks/wings, cold cuts etc…pretty much a full buffet. They have full breakfasts of fried stuff, cereal, fruit…everything you could want really and stuff to make your lunch in the morning for that day. It's all free and paid for by your company as part of your accommodation. You can eat as much or as little as you want. Breakfast is usually open from about 4:30am-7am-ish and dinner 5-8pm ish.

Legend100

Pete would you ever consider jacking it in and becoming a photographer?

(not messing....your photos are really good!!!)

Slideways

Pretty much the same on this site. Mess opens at 4, pack your lunch have some grub and head for the bus.

We do 7 12.5 days and then shift change and 7 12.5 hour nights.

4 beers rule in the wet mess and they are served open. It's not enforced afaik. I don't bother with it, I go to our well equipped gym instead.

Morris is our food provider and it ranges from alright to terrible. Food gets very repetitive

There's also the constant cloud of "that's a window seat" for the slightest rules infringement.. :rolleyes:

pete4130

Legend100 wrote: »

Pete would you ever consider jacking it in and becoming a photographer?

(not messing....your photos are really good!!!)

Thanks. I've been freelance for years. There's no real money in it though. Shooting photos I didn't care about for other people for money made me dislike picking up a camera.

I just shoot personal stuff for myself these days and some freelance stuff for an Aussie BMX magazine whenever I get the chance outside of work.

I initially took the FIFO work as a means to get 2WHV and only planned on doing it for 3 months and use it as a photo project. 3 years later I'm still doing it.

stop animal cruelty

^^^

you defo have some talent pete, really good pics

Mellor

pete4130 wrote: »

Your en suite room. This one is pretty bland compared to others (My bed was on wheels so I had to use the broom to stop it rolling around the room).

AngryHippie

pete4130 wrote: »

(My bed was on wheels so I had to use the broom to stop it rolling around the room).

Just pinch the wheel chocks from the safety officer's ute

Sundy

pete4130 wrote: »

Your en suite room. This one is pretty bland compared to others (My bed was on wheels so I had to use the broom to stop it rolling around the room).

This cracks me up, turn over in bed and you roll down between the wall and the bed.

I dont do FIFO but I've been lucky to visit quite a few sites in OZ and in PNG. Accommodation varies greatly, horrible lodge style with shared facilities to a beach holiday type villa at Lihir Gold mine.

Everything has been covered here really well but one thing I'd mention is if you cant handle continuous early mornings and long days its not for you.

jank

Some good posts here detailing the realities of FIFO.