Lawrence Kooij

"Truly proud of immense scale of construction”

Lawrence Kooij started as a trainee plater with Heerema Fabrication Group in Zwijndrecht in 1999. After a successful internship and his graduation he was hired as a full-time mechanical fitter. He later moved on to work as a pipe fitter and became a working foreman in the Structural Discipline department.

Since May 2011, Lawrence is now Team Leader (Structural Discipline) and leads two to three foremen each of whom have about 10 people working with them. Mostly, these workers are a mix of HFG staff and contractors.

Lawrence is the key person who ensures that all drawings and materials end up with the right people, from the smallest to the largest components, so that structures can be built in the right way and on time. It is also his responsibility that all quality controls are in place and complied with.

Asked about what inspires people working for Heerema, Lawrence thinks one of the main aspects is the immense size of the things that are built. Besides the pride of being able to work on these structures, the team spirit among the people working at Heerema is another reason for most people to stay and choose a career within the company instead of moving on elsewhere.

“I really enjoy working here. It is simply marvelous to build an immense deck from relatively small components. You see all the different parts arrive and when we put it together it turns into a whole edifice. I am truly proud every time to see this happening under my supervision and to be able to apply my own ideas during the construction. Add a really good atmosphere, with enough time to chat and plenty of time to work. What more could I ask for?”