On 8 October 2019, in Riga, Latvia, an emergency training in the retail sector was held for the first time in the Baltics that was organised by Maxima Latvia in cooperation with the State fire and rescue service, the Emergency medical service, as well as the State police and the State Security Service.
The training took place in the newly built Maxima X shop. To improve company emergency management and strengthen employee collaboration with the services involved, the training took place in several levels. It included staged rescue work at the Maxima shop with the involvement of rescuers and emergency vehicles, and activation of the emergency management plan and work at the Maxima office Abras.
“The SFRS carries out daily practical and theoretical training to test and refine previous skills in performing fire-fighting and rescue works. As is well known, in cases of emergency, it is a matter of seconds and how successful the various services and companies involved can cooperate. Therefore, in the opinion of SFRS, practical training in different companies is especially valuable, because it allows us to play different possible hazards, liability of involved resources and algorithms of actions during training, as well as allowing us to check practically the actions of the employees of companies in various potential hazards in the workplace,” says Inta Palkavniece, Acting Head of Prevention and Public Information Department of the SFRS.
“We are pleased that Maxima is the first retail company in Europe which introduces a full emergency management system of this magnitude. It becomes more and more important at a time when the supermarket is a public gathering place for thousands of people every day.
We are well aware of the importance of preparedness, precision and concerted action in the case of emergency, so we highly appreciate the possibility of examining several stages of cooperation with the responsible operative services. The practical training is a part of the emergency management plan that we have implemented in cooperation with Kenyon International Emergency Services in 2018,” emphasises Jānis Vanags, a member of the Board of Maxima Latvia.
It has already been reported that in summer 2018, Maxima Latvia started cooperation with Kenyon International Emergency Services to improve the management of the company in emergency situations. Under the leadership of internationally recognised experts, the existing company’s emergency situation management plan was carefully reviewed, analysed and refined as well as training organised for staff.