Page 41 - SAPREF 50 year

Tank Farm area, 5 April 1967.
Sister Lynn McClellan
Sister Lynn, as everyone fondly called her, who retired from SAPREF in 2008 after 22 years of service, was “hooked on people”. Just as well, because she cared for scores of people at the Clinic every day. She said, “I always wanted to find the best in people. Of course, there were challenges, both across the cultures and the disciplines. But I loved that, dealing with the chemical engineers, the fitters, the operators, and the rest. I was spoilt at SAPREF, being sent on all those courses, always being uplifted and developed and stimulated.”
Sister Lynn received the HSSE Award in Shell’s Batho Pele Awards of 2004; it was the first time a medical person had received a Batho Pele award.
Spend 30 minutes at the refinery and you will almost certainly meet Vis — a live wire of note. If you do not actually meet him, you will hear him; by his own admittance, he is a loud character. More than that, however, he is a helpful character. His job as System Administrator, which includes initiating
the purchase of computers, moving them around, the ICT Help Desk, gate pass administration, and anything to do with projectors, requires him to be helpful and he has been pushing it to the limit for more than 32 years. How does he do it? “It’s all about personality and commitment. Yes, I am a people person, but I have learnt to listen to people and their needs. My job is to make sure people are up and running, computer-wise, whatever it takes; that’s what I do, and I love every minute of it.”
John is one of SAPREF’s many veterans. Though he is a Construction Supervisor today, he started as an apprentice mechanical fitter in January 1974, and in 1983 Sister Connie Mason recommended that he do a one-month paramedic course; since then he has done many a refresher course and has attended to a variety of medical incidents at SAPREF where his skill is prized. Once, he had to attend to a geologist who had gashed his hand on the Rocky Shores; the geologist later wrote: “I have more faith in John’s ability than that of some of the GPs who have attended to similar small wounds on me in the past.” John is well known in his community on the Bluff and many people come seeking medical help after hours. He carries his medical kit in his car, and always offers to help at road accidents. In the early days, John and some of his colleagues were pranksters of note, and indeed John has written about his colourful life at SAPREF — it fills 238 pages!
Vis Moodley
John Thomson
COMMEMORATING 50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
37