AS part of a four-week series looking behind the scenes of Scotland’s steelworks, our reporter Janice Burns returned to the Dalzell plant in Motherwell to find out what new owner Liberty House is doing to attract female workers into what was traditionally a male-dominated industry, and spoke to the women of steel who are at the coalface of the plant, bringing in vital orders and keeping health and safety top of the agenda...

THE Dalzell plate mill in Motherwell, which was reopened in September, currently has a staff of 120.Among 31 white-collar workers, 12 are female. On the engineering side there are no women, but new owner Liberty hopes to change that by attracting more female apprentices in the coming months and years.

Iain Sinclair, director of business development at Liberty House, said: “While engineering is traditionally a difficult area to recruit women, Liberty is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce for Dalzell and recognises the importance of encouraging more women into the industry.

“We are working in collaboration with the Engineering Development Trust Scotland and launching a number of initiatives aimed at inspiring our future female engineers and scientists as part of our wider engagement and talent strategy.

“This includes partnering with local schools to engage young people in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] and dispel myths that manufacturing, engineering and technical career opportunities are for males only.”

Apprentice health and safety officer Sarah Moon, 21, from Airdrie, is the fourth generation, and the only female, in her family to work at the Dalzell plant, following in the footsteps of her great-grandfather George, grandfather Robert and father Colin who she says was “totally devastated” when he was made redundant when plant closed last year after working there since the age of 16.

Sarah said: “I absolutely love it here. It really is like a big family and being so close to the senior management is great. You walk past the CEO and he will know you by name. I have never had that kind of recognition anywhere else.

“I am the fourth generation of the Moon family to work here and the first girl. On my first day, I got a site tour and so many people turned round and said to me, ‘your grandpa told me how to this or that’. It was very emotional. My dad is very proud I am working here. I feel like I fit in, as if it is in my blood.

“We’re all a big team, everyone puts in the same effort. There’s no negativity.

I look forward to coming to work. Living locally, I’ve always known about the steelworks. The community is really happy it has opened up again.”

Business planning and customer service advisers Emma Kirkland and Vicky Cowie are just two of the women who are at the coalface of the plant, helping to bring in orders to keep everyone in work.

Mother-of-two Kirkland, 34, from Armadale, West Lothian, started at the plant on September 5, and is very optimistic about the future.

She said: “When I started, the business plan was to target the domestic market and then move into export. We are already dealing with huge enquiries for export and have export orders, so the rate at which the business is developing is faster than anticipated.

“It has fallen on our department to get the business enquiries through to order stage and then plan the orders for the rolling mill, so it is a huge responsibility. Everyone is relying on us to get things rolling. The good news is that enquiries are constant, we get about a dozen a day. We have had contact from companies involved in shipbuilding, wind turbines, offshore, the Ministry of Defence, large vehicles and smaller fabrication companies as well. The quality of steel coming out of here is extremely high. I am optimistic for the future and things are really looking good.”

Cowie, 44, from Wishaw, began working at Dalzell on September 19 and, with two daughters, would encourage more women to get involved.

She said: “I left another job to come here. It was a new challenge for me, but I think when I realised the steel industry in Scotland was starting again and I was getting into something from the grassroots up, that kind of spurred me on.

“I wanted come to in and help build the business back up and turn it around. Business planning and customer service is at the coalface. It is not just about the end product, it is the whole process from first contact right through.

“It is a great environment and I think there are so many opportunities for women now, on the engineering side as well. I don’t see why women can’t do all the same jobs as men in the steel industry, from customer service through to the finished product.

“They are all vitally important roles. I think girls should be encouraged to play to their strengths.”