Innovative New Falck Training Center

 

Falck, which specializes in safety and safety training, is set to leave its current site on the Beerweg when its lease with the Port of Rotterdam Authority ends in the spring of 2018. This situation has given Falck the opportunity to develop a brand new safety center, a decision for which the company has the full cooperation of the Port of Rotterdam Authority (the organization responsible for managing and operating the port area).

 

Back in 1985, a large training center for the fire brigade, industry, offshore and the maritime industry was set up just several kilometres from the company's current site, the result of a partnership between the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Smit Internationale and the Dutch Security Services (Nederlandse Veiligheidsdienst). The most important objective of the safety center, which was operated under the names Risc and Nutec at that time, was to create a safe residential and working environment at the port of Rotterdam. The contract signed today marks the continuation of the original partnership. The new site is situated several hundred metres to the east of the existing training center.

 

Joost Eenhuizen, Business Manager Maritime Industry & Offshore at the Port of Rotterdam sees Falck as an important business for the Rotterdam port area. “Falck contributes to safety in the port with its knowledge and expertise in this area. We wish to achieve a high safety standard as a port operator. We are delighted that Falck has been operating for so long in the Maasvlakte helping businesses in the port with its high-quality services to prepare as effectively as possible for incident management”.

 

Occupation of the new site in 2018 will involve far more than just the relocation of activities for Falck, as reflected in the two principles underlying development of the new site: the achievement of an interactive and realistic experience and the bringing together of knowledge and practice. The new center, which will cover an area more than one hectare bigger than the current site, will be designed and built in accordance with the very latest standards for technology, the environment, occupational hygiene and safety and training technologies (virtual reality environments for incident control and crisis management, for example). The new site will also feature a field lab, for research and practical experiments. The functional wishes and needs of both national and international clients are the guiding principle on which the design for the training facilities is based.

 

The expectation is that the new training and research center will be ready in the spring of 2018.