Health & Safety in Construction Talk for Schools

1. Health & Safety in Construction Talk for Schools Bardsley is committed to working with the local community and safety is of the utmost importance to us. We give presentations to schools in the area we are working and this allows us to communicate with children who may be affected by the construction works. We stay all morning with the school children where we deliver a video called ‘Game Over’ which has been made by the Health & Safety Executive. The video follows three young children who go on a building site and the dangers which they could encounter. The video is a powerful and efficient method to use with children to get the message across. We also provide the children with an interactive book developed by Bardsley called “Building Sites are Dangerous”. Aimed at three to eleven-year-olds, “Building Sites are Dangerous” features a cartoon character called Roly, who guides the reader around a variety of games, puzzles and comic strips to encourage children to think about the hazards that exist on building sites. The book examines different types of dangerous situations from building sites, building materials through to demolition. It also contains a poster of a building site with hazards and asks children to spot them by comparing the safe and unsafe site. Many children view construction sites as playgrounds and think they are fun and safe places to play. However they are far from fun or safe, 16 children have been killed in construction related incidents over the last 10 years, and 802 were injured. This booklet is designed to change attitudes and bring home to children the message that they should never go on a building site. The interactive booklet is designed to be a fun way of learning about the dangers that exist on construction sites. It covers such issues as large vehicles coming and going from sites; scaffolding; building materials such as bricks, pipes and sand; and heavy machinery, all of which can be extremely dangerous. Whilst the children are watching the video we hand out goodie bags and they are advised to take note of everything they see on the video as questions are asked at the end to ensure that the message has been understood. The whole point of the exercise, activities and goodies is that the children remember the day and stay away from construction sites.