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Day In The Life Of: IFM Maintenance Coordinator


June 23, 2023

By 7:00am, the Salam team is already parked outside of Sanggang, the office sheltering a segment of the expansive team under the Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) organisation. As we drag our heavy feet and bleary eyes into the office for our DILO (Day in the Life Of) shadowing session, Azeez welcomed us with sheer enthusiasm and bright eyes. 

Early mornings are commonplace for Azeez, IFM’s Maintenance Coordinator. Even before the start of official working hours, Azeez is already in the office reviewing the relevant documentation such as Hazard Identification Plan, Job Hazard Analysis prior to approving the assigned multiple Permit to Work (PTW) under his area of accountability to enable the contractors to carry out the day’s necessary operations. 

Permit to Work is a documented procedure that authorises certain people to carry out work at a specified place, date and time. It is an essential license that can enable people to assess not only the scope of a work but determine the associated risks and mitigations that come along with it. This is especially integral for Azeez every morning before he sets off for his daily patrol, which requires him to oversee that these works are carried out according to what’s specified in the PTW and scope of works.

As the maintenance coordinator for IFM, Azeez’s portfolio not limited to the quaint community of Panaga which  oversee the maintenance and rejuvenation of house for over 700 Brunei Shell Joint Venture (BSJV) families, may it before, during or even after their occupancy but also covering BSPIndustrial assets inclusive of offices, Panaga School, clubs and health centre. 

Although less than a year on the role, we can tell that Azeez is already familiar with the in-and-outs of the trade. When asked about how he finds the role so far, Azeez shares his answer as he drives us to our first destination of the day. 

“The pace can be intense, but it’s a great learning experience. You get familiar with the how-dos pretty quick,” he says casually, weaving through the maze within the Panaga compound effortlessly, “And you get to meet a lot of diverse people, may it be tenants, government stakeholders or even our many contractors.” 

We’re heading towards the E1 area located at the end of Jalan Tengah, where apartments, bungalows as well as single-storey houses are nestled. When we arrived at the destination, on one of the near completed houses, Azeez did a final verification to ensure that the house is delivered with acceptable quality and now ready for move-in before allowing the maintenance team to be mobilised to another location. 

And off we went to the second destination. During this travel time, we took the chance to pry. 

We ask Azeez to share his most significant experience so far on the job. 

“It’s definitely being involved in the preparation work for operation bubbles,” he mentions, “Our onshore and offshore colleagues had to go in isolation prior to entering their operation bubbles as an effort to minimise the COVID-19 spread, and we had to prepare the accommodations to enable that.” 

While the second wave was unexpected, the IFM team was well prepared with learnings from the first wave, to get in motion – they had the accommodations ready within a week with the good collaboration and support from relevant teams including business partners.

When we arrived at our second location, we were lucky enough to find the working team meeting in the rest area having their toolbox talk.

While the Salam team is all too familiar with the dangers and mitigations discussed in production operations toolbox talk, we learn a lot of regular day-to-day house renovation associated risks in this one.

Paint fumes, tools housekeeping and being in the line of fire during the simple act of hammering are meticulously considered, with every risk given a mitigation. Azeez plays a role during this discussion by not only listening in and verifying the discussed risks, but to add on in case some are missed – paying close attention to the quality, understanding of the team members on the delivered TBT and the detail of today’s operations as described in the PTW & display board.

With the sound of the chirping birds, talks of wildlife risks in the background, and a monkey staring at us from the tree – it’s safe to say that Azeez’s secondary office is very interesting in comparison to our corporate cubicles. 

This goes to show that in a company of 4000 staff, with almost 20,000 contractors, there is never a dull day in BSP. Everyone plays a part in making sure that not only production continues to keep the lights on in Brunei, but in keeping our people and our operations safe in different ways. Azeez is one of those people.