My Summer Placement At Trigon Fire Safety - By Ben Hargrove
For eleven weeks over the summer of 2023, I worked as a summer placement fire safety engineer at Trigon Fire Safety in Richmond, London. I applied for this role to supplement my academic work and gain experience working within an engineering consultancy, before heading into the final year of my Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Leeds.
Upon discovery of Trigon's advertisement for a summer placement student, my interest was piqued. I had limited awareness of the field of fire safety engineering and had to decide whether it was something I was interested in. After reading about the work Trigon does, via their website and LinkedIn profile, I decided it was an opportunity I was keen to pursue. I was confident my background in Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics would serve me well and in turn, the placement would further my academic development.
Within my first week my mentor helped me to define objectives over the course of my placement. My long-term objectives included the undertaking of an individual research project into guidance surrounding Evacuation Lifts as well contributing to a refurbishment project. Other objectives included supporting engineers and various building projects. Throughout my time at Trigon, I gained an understanding of project management through my own research, involvement in live projects, and taking part in continued professional development at Trigon's weekly 'Lunch and Learn' sessions.
I contributed to a number of projects which gave me an insight into the fire safety engineering industry. I found it particularly interesting to take part in meetings with architects and the wider design team. During these meetings I was able to witness how fire safety engineers communicate with other members of a design team. This was an area in which I was particularly impressed by the Trigon team as they ensured building designs maintained the highest level of fire safety amidst a range of opinions from fellow design team members.
My individual research project culminated in the production of an internal technical note to be used by Trigon to assist in providing recommendations to their clients and stakeholders on the design of Evacuation Lifts. Through my research I familiarised myself with guidance documents such as BS 9999 and BS EN 81-76, as well as Approved Document B and other supporting British Standards. Working with these documents has honed my ability to efficiently read and apply technical information to engineering designs. It has also highlighted to me the ever-changing landscape fire safety engineers operate in. Additionally, the internal review process has improved my technical writing greatly.
I'm pleased to say that my work has benefitted both myself and the Trigon team. I have been a team member on live projects, contributed to research work, and assisted in their business development. In giving a presentation on my experience as the summer placement at Trigon's technical training day, I was able to provide unique insight into the business and assist them with management and planning for future summer placements.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone at Trigon for welcoming me into the team. They provided me with responsibilities I was not expecting which has helped me to become a more confident individual and engineer. What stood out to me early on was the level of respect everybody had for each other in coming together to produce best-in-class service. In my opinion, this is the basis for their efficient communication and respected reputation.
I wish everyone at Trigon all the best in the future.