Castlebar school children learn to ‘Keep Safe’
Thursday 27th March
More than 100 children from St. Patrick’s National School, St. Angela’s National School, St. John's N.S., Breaffy, Scoil Raifteirí yesterday (Wednesday 26th March) attended a Health and Safety Authority ‘Keep Safe’ event at An Sportlann, McHale Park, Castlebar.
Twelve state agencies and regional organisations with a safety remit came together to deliver an interactive safety programme directed at fifth and sixth class pupils. The ‘Keep Safe' programme aims to promote safety and community awareness through involving the children in a series of fun and interactive scenarios with an underlying safety theme.
Speaking at the event, Frank Power, Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority said, “The Keep Safe initiative teaches children about a whole range of hazards and situations, from safety around electricity, to farm and water safety. All of the activities are design to be fun, interactive and informative. I would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in the event today. The enthusiasm of the pupils, their teachers and the agencies make this a really worthwhile event.”
The aims of the one day ‘Keep Safe’ event are to help children to:
- become aware of personal and home safety,
- learn how to react to dangerous situations,
- foster good citizenship,
- learn how to recognise hazards and manage risks,
- learn how to stay safe within the context of, for example, road safety, fire safety and building site safety.
The agencies involved were; the Health and Safety Authority, An Taisce Green Schools, Bus Eireann, Construction Industry Federation, ESB Networks, An Garda Siochana, RNLI, Mayo Fire & Rescue, Civil Defence, Irish Farmers Association, Mayo County Council (road safety) & Teagasc.
