April 5th & 6th, 2011: Vidal days

Bron: focus-wtv.tv

"For the eighth consecutive time, workshops were organized at the Sioen headquarters in Belgium. Lectures, discussions and real fires were on the program, animated by Carlo Zaglia of Soldats du Feu Magazine and his team of trainers.” Thanks to the participation of the companies Boche, MSA, Regain, Rostaing and Vidal, the guest firefighters and administrative staff from Sdis could see a preview of the newest developments in PPE.

« Decide today on how our PPE will evolve tomorrow, is a reflection that cannot be done alone. For this reason we need the other SDIS. We need their experience, their expertise and their work, "said Soledad Bergerbit, from SDIS 69.
The idea is to find mutual solutions for purchasers of SDIS, to anticipate their actual needs and those to come, by testing the products before buying them, and most importantly, to compare the existing products on the market, with the informed opinion of their peers. This was the main message this year. A manufacturer always praises his products, which is normal, but starting from the assumption that we all can improve in our areas, we wanted the team of Soldats du Feu Magazine to support us. Criticism is objective, even if it is to our detriment.

It is true that even if this year guests were able to test PPE under conditions of real fires, going from gloves, to the technical underwear, boots, helmets and ARI, here too we are talking about reflection. A second course was organized in which firefighters had to progress and look for victims in pairs. They were dressed in full PPE, with ARI and a thermal camera, allowing to "feel" the effort made recent years on comfort and ergonomics of new products.
The debate held at the end of the two half-days was indicative of the concerns of technical and logistics departments of the different fire brigades.
To Commandant Jerome CLAVEROTTE, the SDIS 64, "it is clear that the PPE should be at the end of the reflection, once the analysis of the risks to which a fire-fighter is subject has been performed. PPE is not a goal but a means of further protecting the firefighter. It is not the sole work of the logistics. It’s up to the operation and training to achieve an overall reflection, perhaps by reviewing fundamentally our current way of deciding the purchase of PPE.” Changing attitudes is already underway. The time when the PPE was initially a uniform seems to be definitively gone.

A 50-foot container was for the occasion installed to allow French Sdis technicians, supervised by the trainers of Soldats du Feu Magazine, to test the new PPE in real fire conditions.

The success of this eighth edition is due to the presence of sdis 02,15, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, 42, 45, 46, 47, 54, 58, 59, 60, 64, 65, 69, 71, 72, 77, 80, 83 ?, 85, 86, 87, 91, 95, CNPP, DSC.

The appointment is made for our "2012 Workshops" with even more innovation and reflection.

June 2nd, 2010: Dutch speaking (Belgium)
June 3rd, 2010: French speaking (Belgium)

On June 2nd and June 3rd, we organized a workshop for the Belgian police foreces about ballistic and knife protection. In the morning we had external speakers and important visitors such as the Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and Minister of Justice Stefaan Declerck, who explained the need of ballistic protection in our actual society, and we will also give a presentation of the new advanced solutions SIOEN developed for this market. In the afternoon there were several interactive workshops.

March 23th & 24th, 2010: French Firefighters
April 20th, 2010: Belgian Firefighters

On March 23rd and 24th, 2010, SIOEN organised together with its partnering companies for the 7th time the "French Fire Fighters days". Even with a general strike of the public transport system, on the first day we welcomed more than 100 guests. The interactive workshops and symposium were confirmed to be highly appreciated by all visitors.

On April 20th, 2010 more than 50 people from different locations all over Belgium participated in a full day debate about the ideal firefighter garment for the future. We have received very positive reactions on the SIOEN Firesuit we supply since 2006 and are preparing the future.

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Today, Jean-Jacques Sioen, founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of SIOEN Industries, passed away unexpectedly. This is announced by his wife Jacqueline Sioen-Zoete, his daughters Danielle, Pascale and Michèle Sioen, his sons in law and his grandchildren. On November 24 he would become 74.

Jean-Jacques Sioen was a passionate and dedicated entrepreneur. In 1960, when hardly anybody heard of the word technical textiles, he founded SIOEN Industries. He specialised in this 'new' and promising niche and built a first small coating line in Beveren-Roeselare (Belgium).
In 1967 Jean-Jacques' wife Jacqueline Sioen started an apparel workshop in Roeselare, using SIOEN coated textiles. Together they built up a success story where their daughters play an important part.The philosophy of Mister Sioen has always been a pragmatic one: be better, faster and more innovative in all activities he deployed. From that point of view grew the company adagio: Protection through Innovation.

In the 70s and 80s the company continued to grow, despite the oil crisis and economic slowdown. Soon the two buildings at Beveren and one at Roeselare became too small and they moved to a single new site at Ardooie, the current headquarters of the company. "Standing still is going backwards" was one of his favourite expressions. The company expanded export and acquired production sites abroad. In 1989 Jean-Jacques Sioen received the export award from Prince Albert. But also misfortunes came along. How SIOEN overcame these problems shows the strength and the power of Jean-Jacques Sioen and his family. In 1991 a fire destroyed the Ardooie plant. This set-back gave a new elan to the company. Driven by Jean-Jacques and Jacqueline Sioen the company inaugurated a brand new state-of-the art production plant in Ardooie (Belgium), went public with an IPO and was awarded Company of the year.

Loyal to his own words Protection through Innovation the company continued to invest permanently in new applications, markets, products, new processes and techniques. After 45 years as CEO of the company, Mister Sioen passed the presidency of the company in 2005 and became chairman of the Board of Directors. Everything Mister Jean-Jacques Sioen did, he did wholeheartedly. Sadly we are parting from a wise man, a visionary entrepreneur and the inspiration of SIOEN Industries.