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Keep-up with the requirements of time
Exemplary Training at the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service

The Fire Service and Damage Prevention Division of the Nuclear Power Plant Facility Fire Service, ATOMIX Ltd, is one of the most up-to-date and qualified fire services in Hungary, first obtaining the ISO certification in Hungary. In the background of the outstanding standard, high professional preparedness and technical equipment you can find such serious, special training strategy which is a good example to all professional and facility fire services in Hungary.
Péter Bőhm, chief of the Fire Service, is answering questions about the importance of their training strategy, their experience and results in its practical fulfilment.
- Why do you consider the continuous high standard training of the personnel so important?
- Since the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service (ATŰ) fulfils special assignments as well, the personnel have to be trained to meet all the expectations all the time. The technical equipment is important but humans play the most crucial role. Those who want to be fire-fighters have to accomplish very strict requirements. Our personnel is selected according to defined points of view even at the job interview, later on we put great emphasis on their training and keeping-up their acquired professional knowledge and physical fitness. Our aim is to enable them to remain suitable for the job both mentally and physically in the long run.
- The Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service created an exemplary training strategy, which was taken over by several fire services in the country. How long have you been applying it in practice?
- In the first year after the establishment of the Fire Service in 1994 we already started serious organised training courses, and by now we have worked out a training system, which includes 50 types of training. Our education-training strategy was elaborated according to the demands of life. We were open to respond to all modern needs, remarks so that we could accomplish our tasks the best way. We were eager to obtain all the necessary information to form the basis. We consider our training strategy a kind of human resource management.
- What does the training plan include?
- Our training plan includes basic, keep-up and special courses, sessions and training. The training period means in our case daily training all over the year. Seven hours of a daily shift go on education and practice of psychical, theoretical and physical contents. In addition to the educational and practical training, examinations of performance level and physical condition under load are also carried out. The fire-fighters have to take exams in malfunction incidents, nuclear technology, radiation protection, workers' protection legislation, pump and low-powered vehicle operation, and in healthcare. Amongst the special courses we can find courses for instance in driving vehicle SIMON with lifting basket, in heavy vehicle operation, in load-tying, in training signalman, in industrial alpine techniques. The exams are taken repetitively with different frequency. Fire service competitions are also part of the training. The exercises continue even in summer except for the theoretical education, which is not held for a month. Since the establishment of the Fire Service we have had regular sports, first aid trainings, and we were the first to introduce Alpine Techniques training and the compulsory repeated renewal of highway Codex exam. Our 'Co-operational' and 'Imaginational' trainings are considered to be new. Only our Fire Service has the qualification in high and deep rescue, recognised by OMMF.
- Further professional education can be found in many places but not many companies pay attention to their employees' physical fitness.
- It doesn't matter whether you are young or old, the requirements are the same everywhere; a fire-fighter must be fit, vigorous, and in good physical conditions. As our fire-fighters don't have the possibility of early age retirement, our aim is to enable them to work as a fire-fighter until the retirement age. To accomplish it you should start to live a proper way of life and do exercises on a regular basis at a young age. Our sports programs include yoga, relaxation, examination of the performance-physiology and physical condition. While at the professional fire services yoga, relaxation and graphology aren't part of the program, at the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service they have been an acknowledged part of practice for many years. Not too fast, more and more professional fire services are taking over the elements of our training program step by step.
- Do you have alarms from outside the Nuclear Power Plant, and how can you make use of your knowledge in practice?
- Besides the special power plant tasks we often assist in public life, for instance with technical rescue, accidents, catastrophes. We have regular practice trainings but cannot practice everything in real life that's why we purchase wreckage and the fire-fighters fulfil technical jobs on them. Apart from the trainings the fire-fighters have a lot of different tasks, besides working in shift they have to take part in co-operational operational management tasks; they have to prepare for sports and professional competitions and to do maintenance work on the different machines and equipment.
- What's the highest level of your professional training?
- Many fire-fighters go on with their studies on a higher level than required. At present besides the 12-member management 3 fire-fighters have a degree, 11people study in higher education out of the 54 subordinates. A degree is required but not sufficient to be a manager. It's a great achievement that we can solve the problem of supplying new managers by assigning experts from our personnel. As far as we can, we support the studies of our personnel; we even take it into consideration when we define the shifts.
- The performance evaluation of the Fire Service is unique. What are the elements of the evaluation system?
- The evaluation includes the performance at the basic training, the number of years in service, the utility of the person's qualification, marking of the exams and the subjective opinion of the superior. We have been applying our evaluation system for five years; it was developed and introduced by our Fire Service earlier than the Nuclear Power Plant did, where also great emphasis is put on the performance evaluation. This method is outstanding, good results are achieved, and there are more and more followers.
The Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service management recognising the requirements of our quickly developing, changing world in time formed its training strategy gradually and purposefully according to the needs of time. Besides providing the technical conditions its primary task is to train the personnel, to broaden and keep up their knowledge. The continuous and high level trainings enable the fire-fighters of the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service to accomplish the earnest tasks fast and efficiently.

Ms Anna Lovászi