The workforce in the energy sector remains male dominated, especially in frontline positions in activities like operations, maintenance, drilling and construction.
The PLEA pass system means that the Energy Chamber has good data of the gender mix in the downstream contractor and service sector.
This is the system where every worker entering any of the downstream facilities in Point Lisas, as well as in La Brea and Point Fortin, has to undergo an assessment of their basic HSE knowledge, once every two years.
Data from the PLEA pass system shows that between 10 and 14 per cent of the downstream contractor workforce are women.
During the COVID pandemic there was a significant decrease in the number of people entering the downstream facilities and a commensurate decrease in the numbers doing the PLEA assessment, with a decrease from 14,441in 2019 to 8,614 in 2020.
The number of women undertaking the PLEA assessment fell faster than the number of men undertaking the PLEA assessment, with a decrease of 39 per cent for men and 52 per cent for women.
The reasons for this difference in the impact of the pandemic are not clear from the data, though one possible explanation is that women still typically provide most of childcare in T&T households and with school closures during the pandemic, they may have faced more pressure to stay at home.
Since the end of the pandemic the number of women undertaking the PLEA assessment has again increased to similar levels as prior to the pandemic. It remains to be seen if there is a long-term trend towards increased female participation in the contractor labour force, as there has been in other sub-sectors.
