Press Release - Service teams up with Kier Western for exercise

Wednesday 8 April
14.00 hrs

USAR technicians at work on the crane

Avon Fire & Rescue Service and contractors Kier Western have joined forces to ensure the safety of workers on the new South Gloucestershire Council offices development in Badminton Road, Yate.

On Tuesday 7 April a simulated exercise took place on the development site with Avon's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team. The exercise involved ‘a casualty’ stuck on a tower crane 35 metres up in the air.

USAR Team Leader John Davies said: “The exercise was designed to test the line access capabilities of our firefighters to ensure we are fully prepared to respond in the event of a real emergency.

“Avon Fire & Rescue Service carries out exercises of this nature on a regular basis and this ‘incident’ has been very useful to our crews for testing their line access techniques and trauma care.

“We are very thankful to Kier Western and South Gloucestershire Council for allowing us access to their development site.”

Kier Western’s multi-million pound ‘green’ office development for South Gloucestershire Council is set to open in 2010 and is on target to save council tax payers an average of £1.3m per year over the life of the building.