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Reservoir rescue puts 999 services to the test in tower
FIREFIGHTERS, paramedics and police were at Langsett reservoir in South Yorkshire yesterday to rescue a man who had fallen down inside the reservoir’s bell tower.
However, there was no need to panic, as the scenario – featuring an allegedly injured Yorkshire Water employee – had been staged as a training exercise to test emergency procedures and ensure they were “thorough and well-known.”
Andrew Shaw, asset reliability manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “As one of the region’s biggest employers, with dozens of popular operational sites across the region, the health and safety of all of our colleagues, and of those people who visit our reservoirs, is hugely important to us.
“Whilst not real, this training exercise will enable us to identify any current risks at the site, helping us to reduce the possibility of such a scenario ever actually occurring for real, as well as enabling us to check all our procedures and processes, and ensure they’re working and implemented exactly as they should be.”
Around 40 members of staff from the emergency services, as well as Yorkshire Water employees, were involved in yesterday’s exercise at the reservoir, which lies north of Sheffield, near the Pennine town of Penistone.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said yesterday afternoon that around 15 firefighters had been involved with the operation, and were tasked with safely rescuing a man who was supposed to be suffering from leg and hip injuries and needed to be hoisted out of the tower.
Langsett reservoir has also recently been improved with a new bridleway and cycle route, new signage and new picnic tables.
Views across the water have been opened up, in order to make the area more attractive for walkers, cyclists and families.
A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said: “Yorkshire Water has invested almost £400,000 in projects to benefit visitors – both of the human and animal variety – and make it easier to explore and enjoy the company’s land and reservoirs in the area.”
For further details on the walks and trails, visit the Yorkshire Water website at www.yorkshirewater.com/recreation
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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