Last Impressions

Written by: Angus Tarnawsky
Featuring: Neville Allison

It’s funny how one job can have such a great impact your life; Neville Allison is well aware of this truth. He’s been working at Comalco for a whole lifetime.

‘I can’t remember my first job!’ he chuckles, ‘That was 35 years ago! Mind you, everyday brings a new job’ he says contemplating the nuances of his work.

‘When I began, there was twelve months of apprenticeship after which you got in the worksite and spent either three or four months in different trades. After a few years you had a fair idea of what you liked’ says Neville. 
‘And what you didn’t,’ he adds with a smile.

At the moment, Neville works as a Process Maintainer in the Services MRU. ‘I do repair work. If a machine fails, I prevent it from failing again.’

So, have any major disasters occurred over the years?

“Oh of course!’ explains Neville, ‘But you learn to control what happens. Working as a team, anything can be fixed. Comalco is all about efficiency and teamwork.’

Neville’s a firm believer that the world today doesn’t know the power they hold in their hands – literally! ‘Not enough people are getting into trades,’ he tells me. ‘Once, we’d get twenty, thirty apprentices here each year. Now we get two or three, at the most. There’s a real shortage and if it continues, it’s going to hurt the industry; full stop’

But Neville probably won’t be at Comalco to oversee such things, for him a more quiet life at his Swan Bay residence beckons.

‘I’m only here for three more years. After that I suppose I’ll take up a bit more fishing. I’ve made heaps of friendships. All my mates from work are into the footy, so we all get out together and support our kids and I don’t see how that’ll change much in the future.’