Energy Health & Safety training experts, Falck Nutec, have become the first company to receive approval to deliver both basic RenewableUK (RUK) courses: Working at Height & Rescue – Wind Turbines – and Marine Safety Training.
The additions to the existing training portfolio will mean that the Teesside centre will be one of the most comprehensive renewable energy health and safety training bases in the entire country, offering a full suite of wind energy safety courses.
The leading global provider of health and safety training has a reputation for providing safety training for some of the most hazardous jobs in the world, including offshore oil and gas and emergency response teams. The company has continued its global growth by diversifying into the offshore wind market and launched a brand new £575,000 extension to its existing industrial training centre in the heart of the North-East of England last year.
The training premises extension boasts an industry-leading centre of excellence, which features a 23.7m tall wind turbine training tower and an external boat transfer simulator for a range of realistic onshore and offshore wind training courses, alongside a 72m2 rigging and workshop area to deliver OPITO-accredited lifting courses, thus giving trainees the opportunity to practice safety in true-to-life situations.
Lisa Dodds, Business Development Manager for Renewable Energy at the firm , underlined the positive impact of growing offerings in this arena: “We are delighted to now be able to offer both of these courses in the UK marketplace. Falck Nutec can also offer medical fitness for work assessments for renewable energy – as per the guidelines outlined by RenewableUK – which have had great feedback so far. We are already attracting delegates from a range of UK-wide Round 1 and Round 2 projects, as well as a number of multi-national clients. We also offer a range of additional complementary courses such as First Aid, Boat Transfer, Manual Handling, Rigging & Lifting and Working in Confined Spaces.
One of the most hazardous jobs when working on a wind turbine is just getting to and from work, we aim to provide training that has a realistic and worthwhile practical element to it. Technicians have to transfer between vessels and wind turbines many times during their working week. We deliver realistic boat transfer training using our dock facility in Teesside. Once the Round 3 offshore wind farms are operational, we will no-doubt benefit from the largest of these being located on the East coast of the country. The experience we have gathered from clients has helped us to refine our offerings in this area and our teams are looking forward to continuing to meet the needs of such a dynamic sector.”
Falck Nutec has OPITO and STCW approved sites in Teesside and Europe’s Oil & Gas capital, Aberdeen. Danish-based Falck group has 30 safety training centres across five continents globally, specialising in offshore survival training, company specific practical fire safety training, emergency response, dangerous goods, CAA VHF Radio, helideck training, and sea survival. Additionally, Falck Healthcare in the UK has the ability to offer a range of occupational health and medical services, ranging from OGUK offshore medicals, to drug and alcohol screening, and travel inoculations.
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Offshore WIND staff, April 02, 2012; Image: falck