News

Press Release:

Maersk Training first to receive approval for Global Wind Organisation "Basic Safety Training"

Following the release of the Basic Safety Training Standard by the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) on 10 February 2012, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has today approved Maersk Training in Esbjerg as the first organisation to conduct all the five modules in the new standard.

The Basic Safety Training standard contains the five modules:

• First Aid

• Manual handling

• Fire Awareness

• Working at heights

• Sea Survival

The objective of the standard is to establish common industry training standards and best practices on health and safety, as a vital and necessary way forward, to reduce risks for personnel working in the wind power industry.

Michael Bang states "At our new state-of-the-art training facilities, we are proud of having some of the most qualified, motivated and service-minded professionals with extensive practical experience within their fields".

Maersk Training provides safety training for the maritime, oil & gas and wind power industries, and has for several years been a preferred training provider for major companies in these industries. This knowledge and experience has allowed Maersk Training to quickly adapt to the requirements in the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) Basic Safety Training Standard.

Should you need further information please contact:

Michael Bang, Managing Director
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Maersk Training Esbjerg A/S
Ravnevej 9
DK–6705 Esbjerg Ø
Phone: +45 70 227 950
www.maersktraining.com

GWO audit in Esbjerg

Maersk Training Esbjerg's average course evaluation for Instructors in February was: 4,64 - based on a scale from 1-5, in which 5 is best.

Rig crane simulator gets put through paces

MOSAIC II may be some months from completion and coming online, but already just a few metres away, housed in a temporary area in the practical training room in MOSAIC I, the first of the simulators has been put through its paces.

The offshore crane simulator from Drilling Systems has been installed and with a ‘guinea pig’ crane operator in the hot seat, has been very favourably tested. Using the recently instigated Towmaster control room Crane Operations chief instructor Johan van Berkel and Malcolm Brine from Drilling Systems literally threw everything at driver Jorgen Andreasen – wind, rain, snow and a five metre swell. Jorgen was facing eight giant flat screens placed two times four which gave a totally authentic feel for what it is like to be in the cabin of an offshore crane.

It’s a whole new world for Johan who has operated just about every type of crane there is, except on a rig, and has been training around the world using the portable CraneSIM’s which Maersk Training brought into operation in 2007. Now he doesn’t have to operate out of a converted 40’ container parked on a terminal back lot or trying to fit training into difficult schedules and for the first time Maersk Training has a consolidated crane simulator sitting firmly in one place, . . for the time being!

Because it too will have to move when MOSAIC II comes on-line this year. The temporary unit will then move into a permanent position on the second floor allowing rig crews to conduct complete exercises which will be extremely realistic.

A second simulator based on Kongsberg cranes will be added to the set-up allowing the unique experience of supply vessel crews operating in MOSAIC I combine exercises with crane operators from MOSAIC II in the same virtual world.

MCI's Great Safety Campaign

The Great Wall of China was nicknamed 'the world's longest cemetery' due to the huge number of people who died in its creation – over a million perished during its three centuries of construction. Today at Maersk Container Industry's Dongguan plant they could replace the length of the Great Wall with containers every five years - and they aim to do so without an accident. They turn out one 40' container every four minutes, twenty four hours a day and six days a week, enough to replace the 6,259 kilometres of the Great Wall in four years, eight months.

This is where Maersk Training comes in and in particular lead safety instructor Per Mazur. He's delivered a Safety Culture Seminar to ten members of the Dongguan plant and they in turn will spread the message to the other 2,500 employees. This be an ongoing process with around fifty new employees joining the firm each week because the turnover rate of skilled workers is fairly high. In the true spirit of Chinese entrepreneurial desire, welders who may have come a considerable distance to learn their trade are often keen to get back to their home province and start their own businesses.

To get the message across Per and the management at MCI Dongguan made a series of eight videos using the local environment as the location and workers as actors – 'It really helped to sustain their interest in the project to see faces they knew going about the rights and wrongs of working in safe and unsafe ways,' said Per.

Getting the message across meant Per instructing through two laptops sitting side by side and linked to each other for simultaneous page turns. In each there was a PowerPoint, one in English and one in Mandarin, but it was body language that formed the common bond. 'I knew that as long as we were on the same page, I could tell if the message was going in, or not, just by their reactions - it was a very powerful experience, and enjoyable,' said Per.The management at MCI were very happy with the outcome and are going to roll out the 'Safety First at MCI' campaign across the MCI Group and its 5700 workforce worldwide - next step will be the reefer plant at Qingdao and then probably on to the new facility in Chile when it becomes operational. With the success in 'localising' the videos and a different native tongue there will be a need to re-visit the video and fine tune the programme to each plant.

The Mandarin translation was something which fascinated Per, 'I'd say something in English and it might take 30 to 40 seconds and then in the translation it flashes by in what seemed like five Mandarin words, very strange. Overall it was a fantastic teacher/pupil experience.'