This technical centre is the fruit of many years of discussions between the different regional structures involved in management of industrial risks. On June 26th, the project became a reality with the unveiling of the CEPARI (individual respiratory apparatus usage training centre), one of the main centres of this kind in France.

Objectives
Initiated by the chemical industries trade association (UIC) who had identified a gap in safety training, and then piloted by the APESA Association, the project of a common training programme for the Aquitaine region known as ECOSIA began some years ago with the assistance of the SDIS, the CEFIRC, the TOTAL Exploration Production France Training Centre and the Lacq industrial platform Intervention Service.

CEFIRC (training centre for fire and chemical risks) led an enquiry throughout the industrial organisations in Aquitaine in order to identify their training needs. They were then able to define the different workshops needed at the technical centre.

Description
The individual respiratory apparatus usage training centre (CEPARI) is already available. It can be rented by industrial and public service organizations for training courses which can be managed by the customers themselves or by calling in external contractors. The Lacq industrial platform Intervention Service makes the required equipment available and verifies that it is correctly used.
It includes:

• premises with pre-physical tests including moving walkway and an endless ladder,
• an "adjustable direction course" zone with 4 courses of increasing difficulty,
• a "modular living area with mezzanine".

Besides the CEPARI, this technical platform will include 4 new modules which will be operational in the next months:

• a chemical and petrochemical plant zone,
• a high rescue platform with a confined plant simulation,
• a flashover containers zone,
• a dangerous materials transport zone with loading and unloading of trucks, rail tanks and passenger carrying wagons.

These 4 new modules which will be operational between the end of 2008 and mid 2009 can also be rented for specific training programmes.

Gillles MARDELLE, Chief of the Lacq industrial platform Intervention Service, who is at the origin ot this technical centre, specifies that the renting of the training platform is probably one of the first steps towards the cost-sharing of the Lacq platform intervention team. Today, this includes 28 professional firemen and 9 people working in the safety workshop (storage and maintenance of the different safety equipment).

At a time where our main concern is to minimize industrial risks, this technical centre represents a real advantage to convince new industrial investors to build plants in the Lacq area.