Oil and gas industry to use Nasa’s training space

Citation

(2012), "Oil and gas industry to use Nasa’s training space", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 44 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2012.03744caa.001

Oil and gas industry to use Nasa’s training space

Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 44, Issue 3

Raytheon Technical Services and Petrofac Training Services have teamed up to deliver water-survival training to the global oil and gas industry at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) under-water facility in Houston, Texas.

“The Raytheon team has managed Nasa’s neutral-buoyancy laboratory (NBL) training facility since 2003, and has for more than 50 years provided high-consequence training solutions to Nasa,” said John Harris, Raytheon technical-services president. “Together, Raytheon and Petrofac will offer similar training solutions to the oil and gas industry customers, who also require a focus on safe operations and mission assurance.”

The JSC facility, which until now has primarily supported astronauts’ training, will provide trainees with one of the most realistic environments available for learning critical aspects of water survival. The 6.2 million gallon, 40 ft deep pool was originally designed to support space-walk planning and training using full-scale mock-ups of the international space station and space shuttle. While the pool will continue to support Nasa’s space program, a grated floor will be installed in designated areas to support survival-training activities.

The partnership will initially focus on delivering helicopter under-water egress training, basic offshore safety induction and emergency training, and further offshore emergency training – three core-survival courses delivered throughout the oil and gas industry worldwide. The partnership will also expand into delivery of emergency-response and crisis-management training for the oil and gas and other industry sectors by using the NBL’s on-site test control rooms.

“We are already seeing demand for survival training outpace supply,” said Paul Groves, managing director of Petrofac Training Services. “Through this partnership, we can support the growth of the oil and gas industry by combining the technical capability and industry best practices of Raytheon, Petrofac and Nasa to deliver world-class survival and safety training.”