A New Base On Dry Land

16/03/2011

A TRAINED health and safety advisor who has more than 15 years experience on land and sea is looking to expand his services following a move to the Acorn Industrial Estate.

Bill Cairns started his career as an offshore medic and spent much of his time working for the oil and gas sector.

Working as a stand-by medic on rig support vessels, he would provide medical cover and health and safety support for the workers on the rigs.

As his experience widened, Mr Cairns, who is also a trained paramedic, began offering first aid and health and safety training, assisting company's carrying out on-site training, and providing advice and support on a range of safety issues.

As his range of services broadened, he needed to invest in different vessels for different conditions and he has since added a hovercraft and former RNLI lifeboat to his collection.

Now Mr Cairns, who founded his own company Land and Sea Safety Training, has moved into unit 6 on the Acorn Industrial Estate, off Bontoft Avenue.

He said: "The vessels are stored on the water, however I needed somewhere on land for maintenance purposes.

"I have a fully qualified marine engineer in my crew and having a base on land makes it much easier to carry out maintenance and repairs."

Mr Cairns said he was attracted to the unit, mainly because of its size.

He said: "The size was just right for what I was looking for but the price was good too. Location was also important, and as all the vessels can all be transported by road this place was ideal."

Mr Cairns is now hoping to broaden his client base, and said he was keen to try and capitalise on new opportunities such as those offered by the renewables sector.

He said: "I am now looking to expand my client base and wind farms are one area I am looking at as a possibility. I am looking to buy a bigger hovercraft which could accommodate 22 passengers and my idea is to carry people up and down the river wherever they need to go.

"A hovercraft can reach places that other vessels can't and can access the mud flats whereas boats would get stuck. This could be a huge benefit and would also prove useful in incidents where people fell into the water."

He added: "I heard recently that the police were carrying out a search for someone in the water. In my current hovercraft I could carry three officers to anywhere in the water and could also offer medical advice or first aid if needed."

Mr Cairns was assisted in his search for a new base by Dale Gooderham at Garness Jones.