Paradykes pupils learn about building site safety

Pic - Greg Macvean - Adam Smith (Senior Site Manager) & Stewart Ponton (Safety, Health and Environment Manager for Barratt Developments PLC) delivering the site safety presentation to Paradykes Primary Pupils.

Barratt David Wilson Homes hosted a site safety session during a whole school assembly on Friday, January 24 with the pupils. The session took the young people through the dangers of construction sites, the developments themselves, site worker safety and ways to stay safe in the proximity of the building sites.

Louise Ward and Jennifer Sommerville, acting depute headteachers at Paradykes Primary School, said: “Barratt David Wilson Homes joined us for a fun interactive session this morning as they explained the importance of site safety and personal protective equipment by dressing up some of our pupils during school assembly.

“The safety team were with us to emphasise a very important message which is, no matter how tempting a building site might look, young people are not equipped to navigate their way around it and the danger that lurks is often very serious.

“Thank you to everyone at Barratt David Wilson Homes for taking the time to come and present at our assembly.”

The Site Safety Roadshow has seen Barratt Homes construction site experts deliver a 40-minute interactive presentation that includes a video, question and answer session, kids sized personal protection equipment (PPE) for the children to try on as well as an information pack for school staff to distribute to pupils and parents as they see fit.

This school visit forms part of a series of site safety workshops that take place in the areas that Barratt and David Wilson Homes are building.

Stewart Ponton, safety, health and environment manager for Barratt Developments PLC said: “Our site managers are very aware of the attraction of construction sites to children. And while they might look like fun obstacle courses, the fact of the matter is that they are incredibly dangerous.

“It is our duty of care to the people of Loanhead and Roslin among the many other communities in which we operate to provide local schools like Paradykes Primary School with the right information on how the pupils can stay safe.”