On April 28, 2021, various emergency services, school boards and government organizations at Dongecentrale in Geertruidenberg symbolically affirmed their commitment to collaborating on Factory Risk. In the coming months, the Brabant Discovery Safety, Health and Sustainability Plant will be built. The Hazard Factory will open its doors at the former power plant in January 2022.
The Hazard Factory is primarily designed for elementary school students in grades seven and eight. Students are made aware of the risks in safety, health and sustainability through simulated practical situations. Then learn in an interactive way how to act in such a situation. Youth Mayor Danu Ax: “I think it is very important that my classmates and I learn how to contact 112; what we can do against bullying and how we should respond to the fire. The fact that we learn this here by doing it ourselves is also great.”
The situation is in line with the basic goals of primary education and municipalities. It relates to, among other things, fire risks, risks of internet use, road safety, the impact of bullying and peer pressure, contact with emergency services, hygiene and sustainability. “Teaching by experience has been shown to be effective. Because young people will soon experience this by themselves in the Risk Factory, the impact of learning will be much greater. The lesson book cannot compete with that,” says Annette de Ruyter, on behalf of the school boards in Breda and surrounding areas.
cooperation
The Risk Factory is an initiative of Central and Western Safety District, which has been made possible through close cooperation with various partners in the field of safety, health and sustainability, such as GGD; police; Fire department; Ambulance service; Water Council and the Province of Noord-Brabant. The program has been grouped extensively with municipalities, teachers and school boards. Jolanda Trijselaar, Safety Zone Manager: “As a network organization, our job is to tie the ends. It’s cool that this is now possible within the stakes factory and in such a beautiful location. The concept also fits well with our preventive role. When it comes to fire safety, We are therefore happy to contribute in terms of the content. “
The concept of a “risk factory” for learning by doing and experience is scientifically based and comes from England. The first stakes plant was successfully established here in Edinburgh. Central and Western Brabant is the third region in the Netherlands where the risk plant is established. It preceded Twente and Limburg-Nord Brabant.
rent contract
The Risk Factory is uniquely located in Dongecentrale in Gertruidenberg. Dongecentrale is a former power plant in Provinciale Noordbrabantse Electriciteits Maatschappij and later from EPZ, RWE and Essent. By housing the educational center here, the historic cultural building will be sustainably reused. So the owners of this National Monument, BOEi and Noord-Brabant County are proud to officially sign a lease agreement with Central and Western Safety District Brabant. From that moment on, the Safety Zone, along with its partners, can start to properly design this unique and attractive destination.
Danu Acs, Miranda de Vries (Mayor of Etten-Leur), Jolanda Trijselaar, and Carolien Harijgens
(Both photos: Jeroen van Eijndhoven / Image Works)
