Inside Arco's new £2m Bracknell safety centre

Health and safety expert Arco has launched a new safety centre in Bracknell to collect its complete offering under one roof.

The £2 million project features practical learning environments, classrooms and meeting rooms, and an on-site safety store across a 22,000 square foot site.

Along with being Arco’s largest centre to date, the new centre represents a strategic move for the Hull-headquartered company, bringing it closer to its southern customers and acting as an upgrade to its smaller site in Epsom.

Jaime Sadler, Commercial Director at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “The new Bracknell safety centre is a significant milestone for Arco. As our largest dedicated safety centre, it is ideally placed to bring our industry expertise, expansive product offering and practical training capabilities to more customers, nationally.

“The expansion of Arco’s capabilities in Bracknell allows us to provide joined-up health and safety solutions for businesses UK-wide. Bracknell safety centre demonstrates the future of health and safety; end-to-end service, combining risk assessment, training and equipment provision all under one roof.”

Bringing 12 new jobs to the area, qualified experts are on hand to provide a joined-up safety offering which can cover the assessment of an issue, the training of employees and the provision and maintenance of appropriate equipment to protect against future risks. The idea is that someone coming into the store to buy personal protective equipment may also be interested in training to use the equipment.

Behind the retail store sit practical training facilities in the form of three working at height towers of 20, eight and five metres, and a 30-metre-long confined spaces labyrinth. The centre also offers respiratory protection and maintenance workshops and drop-in face-fit testing facilities. The roof of the centre itself is fitted with harness points, meaning on an average day passers-by may see people training up there.

Six training classrooms in the centre provide spaces for training, where customers learn the correct way to navigate the practical training facilities. Arco has also developed an interactive VR training game, a highlight of the tour, which sees trainees navigating sewers, towers and ships in a way which reinforces the theoretical teaching.

Ben Haughton, Technical Director at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “Our safety services teams provide practical advice and bespoke training for a variety of safety-critical industries and scenarios. Seeing, first-hand, the value of practical training facilities at our other safety centres allowed me to design and implement structures and systems unique to our Bracknell safety centre.

“A significant number of people are killed or seriously injured working at height or in confined spaces in the UK each year. Despite legislation and health and safety measures, working in these environments still pose a very high risk. Bespoke training to provide people with the correct skills and capabilities they need is essential.

“A generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach leaves workers and organisations open to huge risks. Dangerous working environments require consultancy and expert support that suits the specific scenario. Whether it is equipment, training or support, our experienced teams offer a complete solution.” 

Arco expects the centre will service hundreds of delegates every week, bringing activity and business to the area. To celebrate its launch, the on-site safety store is offering 25 per cent off for its first week.

Featured image: (L to R) David Evison, Ricky Davis, Chris Lett, Brian Dowell, Alex Berger, Thomas Martin and Jamie Sadler. Photo credit: Simon Jacobs