‘Smart Labour’ Safety Training Park is Officially Open
The grand opening of the safety training ground “Smart Labour”, which is located on the premises of Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Krasnoye Selo, took place on 29 September. The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of the government of St. Petersburg, heads of construction organizations, teachers and students.
Cutting the ribbon
Vitaly Tsaplin unveiling the plate
The training facility was constructed within the Russian-Finnish project SAFECON ("Safe, Skilled and Productive Construction Sites"), which is part of the South-East Finland – Russia Cross-Border Cooperation 2014-2020 Programme funded by the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland.
Vitaly Tsaplin, Head of the SPbGASU Department of Technosphere Safety, Director of the Centre for Occupational Safety in Construction and the SAFECON project manager, unveiled the opening plaque, while the ribbon was cut by SPbGASU Vice Rector for External Relations and Youth Policy Irina Lugovskaia, the project supervisor; Valentina Chaplinskaya, expert of the St. Petersburg office of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC programme; Galina Zakharova, representative of the St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations; and Maria Nasedkina, Deputy Chairman of the NOSTROY Committee for Insurance, Labour Protection and Financial Instruments of the Construction Market.
"This is a landmark event for SPbGASU – we are opening the safety training park which aims to help reduce injuries in the construction industry. It offers a new educational environment focused on training occupational health and safety. The environment consists of nine interactive learning modules, a theoretical training room (30-seat computer room), and nine types of occupational safety training packages for different target groups. The new facility will be used to provide training for students of all forms of education and all categories of construction industry staff, for retraining and professional development," told Irina Lugovskaia.
On behalf of SPbGASU, Irina Lugovskaia thanked the LAB University of Applied Sciences and personally the Dean of the Faculty of Technology Kirsi Taivalantti for many years of cooperation, as well as Russian project partners and stakeholders: the St. Petersburg Committee on Construction and the Committee on Labour and Employment, the National Association of Builders of Russia that have supported the university from the application stage throughout the three years of the project implementation.
Irina Lugovskaia’s speech
Vitaly Tsaplin
"I consider this work to be an important start-up, the beginning of the way to revamp the science research and education in the field of occupational health and safety. It brings OHS training to a new level and creates conditions for our university to take the lead in this area," stressed Vitaly Tsaplin.
Galina Zakharova congratulated the university on behalf of the St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations and the Monitoring Committee of the South-East Finland – Russia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme: "We hope that the established relations with the Finnish partners will develop successfully and you will come up with new project applications!”
According to Valentina Chaplinskaya, the South-East Finland – Russia CBC Programme is a unique instrument of equal partnership between Russia, Finland and the European Union; it is co-financed equally by all three parties involved. Thus, the grants allocated under this programme are not foreign funding, but a joint international financial contribution. "The SAFECON project is practice-oriented and contributes to improving occupational safety in construction, with both students and professionals benefiting from it. This practical orientation is the key focus for cross-border cooperation programmes, as is building a sustainable partnership with our Finnish colleagues," she believes.
The programme coordinator Sonja Miettinen addressed the project participants with a video greeting: "I am convinced of your professionalism, and I look forward to the successful results of the project!"
Kirsi Taivalantti told about her visit to the safety training park on 12 March 2020. "I witnessed it was a great place to learn, to provide practical training for increasing safety at construction sites. And I hope to come again," she said, having thanked everyone for cooperation.
Maria Nasedkina informed that the National Association of Builders (NOSTROY) has been participating in the project for three years. “NOSTROY is ready to make a work plan, a roadmap to promote this project not only in St. Petersburg, but also in other cities. My colleagues and I believe that such projects are necessary for our country. They will enable us to influence the statistics of occupational injuries and change everyone's attitude to the culture of safety in construction," she emphasized.
The SAFECON project is implemented within the framework of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC Programme with the support of the St. Petersburg Committee on Labour and Employment. The project partners are South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK), LAB University of Applied Sciences, Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPbGASU) and Pushkin Leningrad State University.
Text: Tatyana Petrova
Photos: Sergey Klishis
✔ Find out more about SAFECON Project
