SSE unveils first immersive safety leadership training centre in Scotland

SSE has created a first for Scotland by pioneering the country’s only immersive safety training centre in the company’s headquarters city, Perth.

Over the next three years, the £2.5m Faskally Safety Leadership Centre will welcome 7,000 people through its doors annually, for a unique safety training programme which uses state-of-the-art technology to blend film and live action to create a powerful, immersive experience.

The programme has been designed and will be delivered by the award-winning Active Training Team (ATT). With ATT’s roots in immersive theatre, the programme is based on psychological and neuroscientific learning principles, which ensures that learning is remembered better, for longer, and positively influences behaviour in the real world.

Located at SSE’s existing training centre in Perth’s Inveralmond Industrial Estate, the centre has been named in homage to the company’s original training college which was located at Loch Faskally in Perthshire.

The innovative venture will also benefit the local economy with the creation of 60 jobs for the creatives and professional actors responsible for delivering the programme.

Mark Patterson, SSE Group Safety, Health and Environment Director said:

“With the growth of our business through the creation and renewal of our net zero energy infrastructure, there has never been a more appropriate time to reinforce the safety culture that SSE has championed for decades.

“If you think about what SSE does every single day – we have massive operations in the UK, Ireland and beyond, and a suite of new, large, capital projects in the same environment. We carry out thousands of high-risk operations daily. Therefore, our challenge is to make it safe for everybody doing every single task, and to keep our people, our partners, and our communities safe.”

Mark Patterson SSE Group Safety, Health and Environment Director

Mark continued:

“I’m so proud that colleagues across the business have worked together tirelessly in partnership with ATT to deliver this world-class facility. This major investment represents SSE’s commitment to safety and to our people including contract partners, so that we can get everybody home safely at the end of each working day.”

Dermot Kerrigan, Director of ATT said:

“The degree of commitment that SSE has shown to safety is paralleled by only a few organisations across the globe. Not only is the SSE workforce attending programmes at two existing ATT centres, but they have made the investment to build their own.

“ATT is looking forward to helping to reinforce the existing safety culture at SSE. The programme at Faskally will help to embed and cement positive attitudes and behaviours and equip SSE personnel and their contract partners with the confidence and the skills to make safe decisions every day.”