"No profession should be inaccessible to women"

After working as an HSE Manager in the car industry, Anne-Lyse Querard branched out into the oil industry, still in an HSE position, but this time in a much more challenging and complex context, with SEVESO classified sites and oil depots in urban areas. She finally joined Bourbon Offshore Surf in 2013 and is now head of the QHSE and Projects department. Interview. 

How would you describe your career as a woman at BOURBON? 
Anne-Lyse Querard: My previous experience in the car and oil industries gave me a fairly broad vision of the HSE function in companies and what it can involve. When I arrived at BO Surf, I was able to initiate and promote the department's development into a risk management, prevention and training department, moving from a curative to a proactive approach, and bringing the process vision closer to the operational players. I also had the opportunity to extend my area of expertise once again, with the project management of the BOS 2022 transformation, and I was appointed DPA (Designated Person Ashore). Finally, if I had to look back on my career at Bourbon, I'd say it's been very rich, constantly evolving and that the best is yet to come! 

What are the main challenges you face as a woman in our industry? 
A-L Q.: I've faced a lot of challenges since I joined BO Surf, but none of them had to do with the fact that I'm a woman! It hasn't been easy to move the organization towards a culture of continuous improvement, and at times I've felt that the fact that I'm not a sailor could pose a few difficulties, it's true! Everyone I've worked with has always shown me respect, and no one has ever questioned my legitimacy, least of all because I'm a woman. I've always felt very welcome at Bourbon, even during the difficult years. From the outset, I've had an excellent feeling for the company and the maritime world, which I still love and in which I thrive. 

If you had the opportunity, what would you change in your day-to-day work? 
A-L Q.: To carry out his or her missions successfully, an HSE needs regular contact and close proximity to the field and operational staff, something I knew well from my previous experience with an office directly on the production site. At Bourbon, the main problem is the geographical distance from our operational staff, but this is an inherent difficulty in our profession, so we are constantly looking for solutions to overcome it by expanding our teams who go on board and by relying in particular on new information tools. 

How do you see the role of women at BOURBON? 
A-L Q.: On land, I can see that women are very well represented and integrated at Bourbon, including in operational positions. On board our vessels, however, the situation is quite different. We have very few women on board, and we still have a long way to go in terms of behavior, inclusion and mindset. But this is not a foregone conclusion, and we need to redouble our efforts to change mentalities, by training and raising awareness among staff, so as to give women their rightful place on board. We are firmly anchored in this dynamic of evolution and inclusion. We're in a very particular industry, and we need to break down this on-board silo, by improving communication, openness and trust. 

Would you recommend a career in the maritime industry to young women? If so, what advice would you give them? 
A-L Q.: Yes, of course, come along! No job should be inaccessible just because you're a woman. For shore-based positions, Bourbon offers a real quality of work in which it's easy to blossom as a woman. For positions on board our vessels, we are actively working to make this world fair, so stay motivated if this adventure tempts you, while we mobilize every day to ensure that the doors are wide open to you!