Transition Continues as Liddell Power Station Closure Remains on Schedule
With the closure of Liddell Power Station scheduled for April next year, work to support AGL’s people throughout the journey is well advanced.
Key to AGL’s closure strategy is a commitment to no forced redundancies and the establishment of the Future U Hub, a centre dedicated to supporting AGL’s people to plan for their futures.
Working with the Future U Hub team, Liddell employees have now all created individual transition plans to support them to decide which of the available options is the best pathway for them following the closure of Liddell in April.
As a result of these planning sessions employees have now either opted for redeployment to Bayswater Power Station, are planning for retirement or have chosen to stay on as Operators at Liddell to ensure all units can operate safely until full station closure.
Some employees will also form a multi-skilled decommissioning team who will prepare the power station for demolition.
Mental health support has been prioritised through the Future U Hub, and recently another 40 people participated in training that focused on giving them skills and tools to help them manage their wellbeing and mental health during the change process. This training has also been offered to embedded contractors.
Financial counselling, superannuation talks and information on retirement support is also being provided and as the Liddell staff begin to make the transfer to Bayswater, leaders from Liddell and Bayswater are undertaking training on how to successfully form new teams and integrate the workforce.
Brad Williams, Program Director for AGL’s site transition, says this is an important part of the process.
“While the closure of Liddell has been planned for a considerable time, we recognise that it is a significant milestone that will have a personal impact on all of our people, including our contract teams. Making sure we are ready for the change is a vital part of our closure planning. We’re trying to be aware of all the potential difficulties and issues that people might face so that as they’re redeployed they’re feeling comfortable about slotting into a new team and confident that they’ll enjoy the new working environment,” Mr Williams said.
“The mental health training is also focused on helping our people adapt to change; we’re very focused on making sure the transition is completed with the safety and wellbeing of our people as our number one priority.”
Lindsay Smith, who’s been at Liddell for 38 years and is overseeing the closure and rehabilitation of the Liddell Ash Dam, completed the recent mental health training and found it highly beneficial.
“It was great to have both contractors and AGL staff attend the training together as the closure process affects everybody onsite,” he said.
“We focussed on different stress management strategies to challenge common negative thoughts and reframe them in a more positive way. Everybody was really engaged with the content and it was great to hear the different perspectives offered during the day.”