Quooker employee Stein helps people in need
December 7, 2023 is International Volunteer Day. At Quooker, there are also people who dedicate themselves to others alongside their full-time jobs—like our mechatronics engineer Stein, who has been part of the volunteer fire brigade for ten years.
“I rescue cats from trees, free people from their cars, and occasionally respond to major fires. Every call is different, and you never know when one will come,” says Stein Poiesz. As a mechatronics engineer at Quooker, he works five days a week on the electrical and software side of our production machines. But when his pager goes off, he drops everything. He then rushes to the fire station in Ridderkerk to put on his firefighting gear. “There are about 350 call-outs per year—so almost one every day. Most of them outside my working hours at Quooker.”
Childhood dream Becoming a firefighter wasn’t Stein’s childhood dream. “I wanted to be a train driver.” Still, at the age of 12, he joined the junior fire brigade. “I loved it. You learn what fire is, how to extinguish it, and you practice through simulations. You’re basically being prepared to join the fire brigade later on.”
Things turned out slightly differently. Stein was also drawn to the mental challenge of solving technical problems. So he chose to combine an MBO degree in Engineering (Electrical Engineering Technician) with evening training for the fire brigade.
Valuable within the company Stein did an internship at Quooker and enjoyed it so much that he stayed. He is eager to learn and seizes opportunities when they arise, which allowed him to progress to an HBO-level role within a few years. His colleagues know that he can be called away at any moment. “At Quooker, there’s a lot of understanding for my side job. If I’ve been fighting fires half the night, I can start a bit later. I’m also always available if an incident occurs within the company, because I’m trained for it.”
Stein does want to clarify that the term “volunteer” can be a bit misleading in the case of the volunteer fire brigade. “As a volunteer firefighter, you do receive compensation, including for the risks you take. But even if I didn’t, I would still do it. Helping people is the best thing there is.”
Published on 07-12-2023
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