Steve wrapped up his time at WesCEF this week, retiring after 41 years with CSBP Fertilisers.

Back in 1983 when Fertilisers was offering fixed term, seasonal work within its Despatch Operations, Steve took advantage of the contract work, before joining as a fulltime employee in 1985.

Initially Steve cleaned rail trucks preparing them for loading fertiliser, before joining the fertiliser bagging team.

“Back then, the bags weighed 83kg’s each and we bagged during day and night shifts to keep up with orders – the farmers would save money by using their own bags so we had to sort and inspect the bags prior to use. On the odd occasion you would have a bat or a large huntsman spider spring out to scare the life out of you.” Steve said.

After overseeing the bagging operations for both loading into rail trucks and onto road transport, Steve moved up the ranks to Despatch Coordinator, managing the shift teams within the bulk loading of rail and road and ammonium nitrate operations.

Between 2004 and 2019 Steve took on the role of Despatch Supervisor, however given his battles with both prostate and skin cancer, he decided to take a step sideways into a Group Lead and mentor role within the Kwinana Logistics team, where he remained till his recent retirement this past week.

When asked about any highlights he recalls from his long tenure Steve shared quite a few – including a few unexpected one’s;

• Working an afternoon shift in 1986 and later that night seeing Hayley’s Comet zipping across the night sky.
• The huge despatch of superphosphate each season – 3,500-4,000 tonnes!
• Moving from ledgers and dockets to computers and mobile phones.
• Seeing the world’s biggest war ship USS Missouri tie up at the CSBP wharf in 1991.
• The phasing out of fertiliser bagging operations at Kwinana and the transition from rail to road. The team used to load 20 rail trucks to one road truck.
• The division of the Despatch Operations teams into Ammonium Nitrate Operations and Fertiliser Operations.
• The Fertilisers admin building and truck parking – which improved customer service.
• CSBP diversifying its large range of Fertilisers over the years.
• The main super shed being full of just superphosphate and with 24/7 operation.

Steve also appreciated the experience overall including friendships made and support from leadership teams within the CSBP Fertilisers business.

“What’s kept me here all these years? I suppose it’s the comradery, and career wise, it’s been very stable and I’ve been able to develop with various opportunities. Of course it’s also very convenient working close to where I live too.” Steve said.

So what does retirement look like for Steve?

He can’t wait to dedicate more time to his Holden – and the other Holdens his family own.

Of course, he also looks forward to spending more time with his family and grandchildren, attending their sports day and helping with school drop off.

He also hopes to see more of Australia with his caravan, see more waves with his surfboard and play more golf.

And his final comment or tip which may come in useful for many of our other long tenure WesCEF people – “If anyone is transitioning to retirement I highly recommend working part-time if you can, it just makes it so much easier to prepare for when that day finally arrives.” Steve said.

Best wishes and good health to Steven Hall on his retirement.