More than 1600 schoolchildren from the Inverness area learnt why building sites aren’t places for playground games at an event recently.
Safe Highlanders and Islanders ran for 10 days in May at the town’s Cameron Barracks. The annual event teaches nine to 11-year-olds real-life health and safety lessons on a host of issues, including the Internet, electricity, fire and construction sites.
IOSH’s Highlands and Islands Branch is a regular sponsor of the Highland Council-run event, which is held in four separate locations between now and September. IOSH volunteers manned the construction stand, for which the materials this year were donated by local company, Global Construction. The area replicated a building site, with scaffolding, harmful substances, and a digger in a fenced area.
Among the children to visit the mock-up were primary seven pupils from the local Gaelic primary school in Inverness, Bun-sgoil Ghaidhlig Inbhir Nis.
Prior to the event, branch chair Helen Beveridge said: “Over the event we’ll be teaching more than 1600 children why a building site isn’t a good place to play. It might seem like it’s the perfect adventure playground, with scaffolding, diggers and crates, but these have so many dangers that could easily see them injured, or worse.
“Safe Highlander is all about giving youngsters the knowledge that helps them make the right choices, and it has become something of a significant milestone for teaching safety in the school-calendar year.”
Primary seven pupils from Bun-sgoil Ghaidhlig Inbhir Nis visited the event on 18 May to learn about aspects of health and safety, which the school teaches on its curriculum.
Headteacher Annika Jansson said the event was a useful way of teaching pupils essential, valuable life skills they would carry with them through the years.
She added: “Many of the children will live in areas where there are new housing developments, or they’ll walk past road works and other sites on a daily basis.
“We think it’s really important that health and safety is on our curriculum, but Safe Highlander puts everything the children learn into practice, galvanising the message with practical examples. Parents do take comfort from knowing the school is supporting their child’s growing up – learning how to stay safe is an important part of that.”
