HOUSTON and WESSELING, Germany, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB), one of the world's largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, today announced a donation of €36,000 to the Stadtfeuerwehrverband Köln (Cologne Firefighters Association) that will be used to provide specialized training for the professional and volunteer firefighters of the Cologne City Fire Brigade at the prestigious Falck Fire Academy in The Netherlands.
"We are deeply grateful for the service firefighters provide to the community and to our company," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell's CEO. "One way we can honor their dedication is to ensure they receive training in the latest firefighting techniques. We are very pleased to assist the firefighters of Cologne as they support the continued safety of our 2,550 onsite workers as well as the broader community."
The donation was presented as part of LyondellBasell's annual Global Safety Day. This event provides the opportunity for employees and contractors to attend special workshops and training sessions about safety at home and at work. It serves as a reminder of the importance of safety and helps to drive improvements in occupational and process safety.
"LyondellBasell is committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where we operate," said Henk de Boon, LyondellBasell's Wesseling, Germany site manager. "This training program will not only benefit our local firefighters, but also the citizens in our community and the nearly 70,000 people working in the chemical industry locally."
Johannes Feyrer, managing director of the Cologne City firefighting association said, "I am impressed by this unprecedented support from LyondellBasell. This generous donation represents a very special form of appreciation for the work of the 2,000 professional and volunteer firefighters in the City of Cologne. This training allows us to provide better service to the community and increase the safety of the firefighters in action. It also enables us to effectively collaborate better with the firefighters from the various chemical companies."
The Falck Fire Academy (formerly known as Falck Risc) offers consultancy, education and training for emergency organizations worldwide in the prevention and management of emergency situations.
The donation of training is LyondellBasell's most recent effort to partner with the City Fire Brigade of Cologne. The company regularly coordinates with the fire brigades in the region to cross train at its Wesseling and Knapsack, Germany facilities in order to increase overall response effectiveness.
LyondellBasell's Wesseling site is the company's largest facility in Europe. Many of the employees serve as volunteer firefighters in their local communities. The site manufactures film used for food packaging, pipe materials used in municipal water systems and industrial heating systems, and products for the healthcare industry.
LyondellBasell is committed to supporting first responders globally and earlier this year the company announced a donation to fund specialized training for six fire departments in the Houston, Texas region at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), an internationally-recognized leader in emergency response training and firefighting.
About LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin and polypropylene technologies.
SOURCE LyondellBasell
