The 'bear' necessities

Tue, Aug 2nd 2005, 11:00

A cuddly health and safety mascot dropped into a Falkirk primary school to teach pupils the ‘bear’ necessities about the dangers of playing near building sites.

Buster the bear, the brainchild of major house builder, Redrow, visited the four to 11-year-olds at Westquarter Primary School in Falkirk, along with his colleague David Bunyard, to make the children aware of the pitfalls of playing on or near building sites.

David, Redrow’s health and safety manager for Redrow’s Larbert-based Scotland operation, said: “Health and safety is a big concern for responsible developers like Redrow. As well as keeping our staff safe while on site, we also have a moral obligation to the communities where we build. That’s why we’ve devised Buster the bear as a way to get the serious message across in a fun and imaginative way.

“At the moment, we’re nearing the end of a large development of new homes at Gardrum Braes in Falkirk, and with the summer holidays now upon us, it was important that we planted the important seed in the children’s minds NOT to play on or near building sites.”

During the visit by David and Buster the bear, the children were entertained with a short video produced by the Health and Safety Executive, followed by a question and answer session. They were also each given ‘Buster Rules OK!’ health and safety activity pack.

David adds: “The ‘Buster Rules OK’ activity pack, which is filled with puzzles and jokes, has been designed to help children learn about the potential hazards on construction sites – it’s a great tool for parents and teachers to use to deliver the message in a light hearted way.”

Redrow has extended its commitment to education even further by launching the Redrow Learning Web, an on-line resource which includes a teachers’ area to help plan lessons and guide their pupils, meets with National Curriculum requirements and has been accredited by the National Grid for Learning.

The Learning Web is split into two modules – ‘The House Detectives’, aimed at primary school children aged eight to 11, and ‘Plan It…Build It’, which is targeted at secondary school pupils aged 12 – 16 as part of their citizenship studies.

The House Detectives’ enables children to compare and contrast their own community with others around the UK, while ‘Plan It … Build It’ challenges pupils to research, plan and ‘build’ a new development taking into account a full range of issues such as housing supply, planning policy, environmental concerns and sustainability.