“Keep Safe” road show comes to Ballina school children

Over 100 local school children from Scoil Phádraig, Ballina; Scoil Íosa, Ballina; Behy National School; Culleens NS and Gaelscoil na gCeithre Maol, Ballina attended a Health and Safety Authority ‘Keep Safe’ event at Ballina Sports Complex on Wednesday 16th May. 

The event aims to promote safety and community awareness through involving the children in a series of interactive scenarios with a strong safety theme.  It involves a range of state agencies and organisations coming together to deliver a programme directed at 5th and 6th class pupils. 

Speaking at the event, Joanne Harmon, Education Strategy Manager with the Health and Safety Authority said, “Keep Safe is a great way for school children to learn more about safety inside and outside of the home and all the activities are designed to be fun and informative. I would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in the event. The enthusiasm of the students and their teachers along with the agencies make this a really worthwhile event.”

The aims of the one day ‘Keep Safe’ event are to help children to:

• learn how to stay safe within the context of, for example, road safety, water safety, fire safety and site safety,
• 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.

The agencies and organisations that were represented on the day include the Health and Safety Authority, ESB Networks, Bus Éireann, Construction Industry Federation – Kilcawley Construction, Irish Water Safety, Teagasc, Mayo Fire Services, RNLI, Mayo Mountain Rescue and An Garda Síochaná.