SSEN Transmission has reinforced its commitment to industry leading safety standards after welcoming around 40 representatives from key marine contractors and stakeholders to SSE’s worldclass Faskally Training Centre in Perth for a dedicated marine safety experience day.
Held earlier this month, the session brought together teams from across the marine environment who are working with SSEN Transmission to build the electricity transmission network required to support the UK’s ambitious clean power targets.
Attendees included contractors such as Blackhall & Powis and Fugro, alongside marine stakeholders including International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), Aberdeen Port, Peterhead Port and the Marine Safety Forum – key organisations who will play a major role in helping SSEN Transmission expand its offshore electricity network in the North Sea.
WATCH: View a short film of SSEN Transmission’s immersive marine safety event
The interactive day provided participants with hands-on, scenario-based learning designed to strengthen hazard awareness, improve decision-making under pressure, and reinforce the shared responsibility of maintaining the highest levels of safety across all marine operations.
The programme is delivered by the award-winning Active Training Team (ATT). With ATT’s roots in immersive theatre, the programme is based on psychological and neuroscientific learning principles, which ensures that learning is remembered better, for longer, and positively influences behaviour in the real world.
The training formed part of SSEN Transmission’s wider efforts to ensure that everyone involved in its projects – including employees, contractors, and partners alike – has access to best-in-class tools, training, and support.
Already over 2,500 staff from SSEN Transmission have gone through the session, along with over 1,200 contract partners who are working across the company’s £29 billion investment programme to upgrade the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland.
With major offshore subsea projects such as the Spittal-Peterhead subsea cable link, Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) and Orkney Link Project currently in construction, and more marine projects in the pipeline, keeping everyone involved safe is a top priority for SSEN Transmission.
Stuart Clannachan, Lead Safety, Health & Wellbeing Manager at SSEN Transmission, said:
“Safety is the foundation of everything we do, and it was fantastic to see so many of our marine partners come together for this immersive experience. As we deliver a network capable of enabling the country’s clean energy ambitions, it’s essential that our approach to safety continually evolves.
“A major part of that will include working to expand our transmission network offshore – with major projects under construction to build new subsea cables in the North Sea – and it is vital that we ensure everyone involved in these projects continues to put safety first.
“This training day at the Faskally Training Centre in Perth was an excellent example of doing safety differently as well as collaboration in action , and the insights shared will help ensure we all continue to work to the highest possible standards.”
Participants praised both the content and the delivery of the training, describing it as valuable, engaging, and directly relevant to real challenges experienced during major construction projects.
Mark Holmes, Safety and Security Manager at International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) said:
“This session illustrated perfectly that safety leadership needs to be owned by all levels of an organisation and built through collaboration with stakeholders from across our industry. The immersive format, brought to life by superb actors and facilitators, made the learning feel real, immediate, and relevant, and far more impactful than a standard slide deck or written case study.”
The successful event marks another step in SSEN Transmission’s long-term commitment to fostering a strong, collaborative safety culture as it continues to deliver essential infrastructure for the future energy system.