Rolls-Royce expands partnership with Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service
Rolls-Royce Submarines has donated £60,000 of specialist equipment as part of a wider partnership with Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service (DFRS), which includes a new joint training programme to bolster existing emergency arrangements around its Derby site.
Image courtesy Rolls-Royce
The donation of training equipment builds on an already close working relationship between the two organisations, with DFRS playing an active role in emergency exercises at the Rolls-Royce Raynesway site several times a year.
As part of the partnership, Rolls-Royce’s own Emergency Response Unit will be granted access to state-of-the-art training facilities at DFRS’s training centre and various other locations across Derbyshire.
These facilities include modern breathing apparatus training complexes, where Rolls-Royce colleagues will enhance their operational readiness and train on purpose-built structures in a real heat and smoke environment. This will greatly enhance their capability when responding to any on-site incident.
In addition, Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service has agreed to enrol two Rolls-Royce colleagues in its in-house training programme, which will see them complete the same course as DFRS new recruits, to the same standards.
This collaborative approach will enhance operational capability, allowing teams from both organisations to be more agile and efficient in response times, whilst also aligning a joint understanding of risk and management of emergencies at Rolls-Royce premises in Derby.
James Cowell, Director – Safety, Security & Licensee Authority for Rolls-Royce Submarines said: "Over the years we have built strong partnerships with many local stakeholders and none more so than with the Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service.
"By collaborating together on our safety and emergency exercises, and ensuring we share expertise and site knowledge across first responders, we can keep our Raynesway site safe for everyone.”
DFRS Area Manager, Nathan Stevens said: "We’re pleased to announce a partnership focused on enhancing safety and emergency preparedness at Rolls Royce’s Raynesway site and across the local community. By training and planning side by side, building preparedness and developing a shared understanding of risk, Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service and Rolls Royce’s Emergency Response Team will share knowledge, align standards, and build strong relationships.
"This collaboration ensures a quicker, more coordinated response if an incident should occur, safeguarding lives, protecting property, and preserving the environment. We’re proud to be Making Derbyshire Safer Together.”
Rolls-Royce Submarines employs more than 5,000 people and designs, manufactures and provides in-service support to the pressurised water reactors that power every boat in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet. Rolls-Royce is currently supporting the existing Astute and Dreadnought boat build programmes through the delivery of reactor plant and associated components.
It also provides frontline support across the world for reactor plant equipment from its Operations Centre in Derby and supports the submarines when in the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard and the naval bases at Devonport and Faslane. In addition, there are technical specialists working in offices in Glasgow, Cardiff and Thurso, Scotland.