Bryan LeCompte - Falck

Falck Newsletter Mar 2011
Instructors Craig Mynard (the rather hairless gentleman) and Adam Lee ( backwards swimming glasses)
teaching Survival Water Training in the MTU to a bunch of cold potential oilrig disaster survivors.
Up and running
in Texas
Falck’s new training centre in Houston is buzzing with activity – both inside and outside.
When going for a stroll in Falck’s new
training centre in Houston centre, one
notices that several of the new classrooms
at are equipped with safety vests,
gas masks and other equipment that
Falck instructors use when teaching clients
about safety training.
”At some point I’d like all our classrooms
to look like this,” says Facility Manager
Virgilio Gurdian. ”It is so convenient
to simply be able to point at a piece of
equipment when teaching and it gives
our centre a much more professional
look.”
He is on his way over to the outdoor Mobile
Training Unit (MTU) – Falck’s portable,
outdoor training pool the size of a house,
which is currently in Houston - to change
into swimwear for some helicopter training.
”We have a lot of business right now so
apart from my administrative assignments
I still have to teach a class once in a while.
I don’t mind, I enjoy teaching - even if it’s
H
cold out there today,” Virgilio laughs. The
temperature is close to freezing – very un-
In thIs Issue
➤ Want to be a Marine for
a day?
➤ louisiana Man for Transition
➤ A few words from the boss
➤
FAlck NeWsleTTer MAr 2011

Major Emergency
Management.
A large ship is
heading right
towards the oilrig
that you’re in
charge of. What do
you do?
➤
usual for Houston – and the helicopter training
is done outside in the MTU.
Next to the pool bulldozers are working on a
big, empty lot. The centre is expanding and
there is a need for a residential pool and additional
classrooms.
Instructor Mike Foster (white sweater)
doing Fall Protection Training.
While Instructor Mike Foster is doing fall protection
training on a tie off approved scaffold
with larger group outside the centre, a
smaller group is being guided through Major
emergency Management (MeM) training.
This is done in a secluded room serving as a
simulator for a control room on an oilrig. Falck’s
instructors have told the controllers that
a large ship is heading right towards their rig
and cannot be reached over
the radio.
Decisions under
stress
“They are trying everything
they can to avoid
this disaster but eventually
they will need to
evacuate the rig. A good
safety controller always
thinks of his crew first and
if there is no sign that the
ship will change course
then the collision is imminent,”
says Program Mana-
ger John Muse who is overseeing
and overhearing the
interaction between the participating
controllers. Their
mock control room is full of
microphones so their entire
dialogue can be heard and
commented upon afterwards.
Facility Manager Virgilio Gurdian
standing in front of Falck’s own MTU.
You can see the frustration on the crew’s faces
and gestures in the simulator as their options
are being cut off one by one. They do, how-
ever, choose the right decision.
“These guys know what they’re doing and
most of our course participants are very capable.
There’ll always be a few that you have to
spend more time on, though,” explains John
Muse
While the MeM group is doing their evaluation,
Mike Foster is still working his scaffold
training outside. Falck has a patented scaffold
system without knots and bolts that basically
clicks on and off and the system is rented out
to oil and construction companies.
everything is buzzing at the centre. While
the course participants are moving from the
classrooms to the pool and back, Training
Director kip robichaux has a problem on his
hands that is completely unrelated to the
training.
“It looks like we’ve got snow coming on in
Friday so we’ll probably have to cancel training.
People around here aren’t used to snow
and have no winter tires. If they start driving
the ditches are going to be full of cars,” kip
robichaux laughs. When Falck Alford say they
practice safety they mean it.
PAGe 2 FAlck NeWsleTTer TRAINING MAr 2011

When walking around with Bryan lecompte
at the Falck Alford premises in
the small town of Houma in louisiana –
40 miles from New Orleans – it is clear
that there are not many people in the
organisation he does not know very well.
He banters and laughs with the instructors
as well as people in the offices. A
couple of well-placed football remarks
bring out a laugh and a quick retort.
“People at the company are close. Houma
is a small place and many of us are
friends and meet outside of work as
well,” Bryan explains while checking today’s
training schedule with Training Director
kip robichaux on the blackboard
in the full meeting area.
man for transition
Bryan lecompte, new chief Operating
Officer at Falck Alford, is overseeing
the transition from small, local
company to being part of Falck.
When Falck merged with
Alford safety a couple of
years ago times had been
good to both Alford and
Falck. Then the recession
hit.
”Things slowed down
economically all over the
business world and unfortunately
this occurred
right at the time when Falck
took over Alford. For a while the
Alford employees – including myself
- connected Falck with the economic
downturn but lately we’ve been working
really hard to turn that picture around,”
says Bryan lecompte.
Bright future
Vice President Morten Halager and Bryan
lecompte decided to arrange a number
of employee meetings at Falck locations
in louisiana and Texas to discuss the future
of the company.
“The meetings helped a great deal and
it is my impression that everyone knows
we are on the right path. This merger was
always a step in the right direction as the
two companies shared so many values,”
says Bryan lecompte.
After the BP oil disaster the oil business
has been standing still for a while and
drilling permits have been hard to come
by. However, both Bryan lecompte and
Morten Halager agree that there are a lot
of good business opportunities that will
be pursued both offshore and onshore
“We have more business now than we’ve
had for a while. 2011 already looks better
than 2010 and once the drilling permits
start going through we’ll be even busier.
2012 could be a really good year for us,”
says Bryan lecompte.
Bryan LeCompte
■ 41 years old
■ 10 years at Falck Alford
■ Wife and two children – a boy of five
and a girl of nine
■ In his spare time he works on his
land, flips houses and likes watching
a good game of football. He supports
the New Orleans Saints and whoever
plays the Dallas Cowboys
PAGe 3 FAlck NeWsleTTer TRAINING MAr 2011

Be a tough guy Marine for a day
and make a donation to charity.
It’s win/win! Unless you’re afraid
of water, that is.
This is a chance for donators to be buddied up
with a former or serving royal Marine to guide
them through their experience, be invited to
royal Marine events and help raise £1million
for the rMcTF.
escape the Dunker will see a small group of
brave challengers taking on the infamous
‘Dunker’ at the Falck Nutec helicopter underwater
escape unit (HUeT) in Aberdeen – a
tough royal Marines training exercise which
simulates a helicopter ditching at sea.
Falck’s expert trainers at the centre will safely
strap participants into the mock helicopter
and submerge them into water in a controlled
manner, in the dark, at significant speed
- leaving them to escape by using the correct
procedure.
As venue sponsors of commando spirit, Falck
Nutec are providing their facilities free of
charge.
from the boss
We are presently enjoying some very favorable
macro trends in our industry. The oil
prices are at a two-year high, exploration activity
in most parts of the world is increasing,
and focus on safety is stronger than ever as
a result of the tragic accident on Deepwater
Horizon.
This is all good and well. However, it is even
more important that many of the initiatives
we have started during the past couple of
years are starting to pay off. Our cost structure
is close to be best in market, our strong
focus on the customer in general and on the
key customer in specific is generating tangible
results in the shape of global contracts
and increased share of the customer’s wallet.
Additionally, the many initiatives from colleagues
all over the world in creating new
Published by: Falck A/S
Polititorvet
1780 Copenhagen V, DK
Falck Training
Falck is the world’s largest provider
of safety training for the offshore industry.
each year, we provide safety
training to almost 200,000 employees
from shipping companies, military defence
units, the aviation industry and
the oil industry. The training courses
are conducted at our well-equipped
Editor-in-chief:
Louis Illum Honoré,
Falck Denmark, tel. + 45 3345 6430
Falck facilitates
commando
chariTy
The Falck Nutec’s offshore survival training centre in aberdeen will host
‘Escape the Dunker’ in September in support of the royal Marines charitable
Trust Fund (rMcTF).
Graham Gall, Managing Director of Falck Nutec
Uk, is looking forward to working alongside
the rMcTF on this event.
“Many of our current delegates that visit the
centres, based in Aberdeen and Teesside, and
a number of our staff are former members of
the armed forces. We are delighted to support
the commando spirit series and, in the
process, raising awareness for such a worthwhile
cause.”
The rMcTF has the widest purposes of any
service charity, working to support those
wounded and injured, as well as those
still serving, by funding decompression
activities, homecoming events and me-
products and rolling out existing products in
new market are paying off. combined with
our continuing geographical expansion and
implementation of world class quality, sales
management and control systems that none
of our competitors are able to match - there
you have a recipe for success.
Editor:
Karsten Krogh
Falck Denmark, tel. + 45 3345 6443
morials. It also provides through-life support
to those who have left the corps or have lost
loved ones in service.
sally-Anne Hunter, commando spirit series
Founder and Director is excited about the
event.
“We are delighted that Falck Nutec in Aberdeen
has agreed to lend their support and is
providing our scottish location for escape the
Dunker – it is fantastic to get the opportunity
to use their excellent facilities.”
Training Senior Vice
President Peter Svarrer
Talking to many of my Falck Nutec colleagues
and customers, I see no reasons why this recipe
will not work. We just need to stay focused
on the job and I know we will.
Take care out there
training centres in Norway, Denmark,
the Netherlands, the United kingdom,
Malaysia, Brazil, Vietnam and Trinidad
and Tobago. Falck Training also performs
analyses of safety, contingency
plans and crisis management, especially
in the offshore sector and for nuclear
power plants.
Design and production:
KLS Grafisk Hus A/S
Contact the editor: Do you have any interesting stories to tell regarding Falck Training? Don’t hesitate to contact Newsletter Editor Karsten Krogh. Email: kakr@falck.dk
Peter
PAGe 4 FAlck NeWsleTTer TRAINING MAr 2011