Switch on your ‘Risk Radar’ for Summer!

Academy9 delivered three Risk Radar sessions for P5-6 pupils at Newtonmore Primary School, Breadalbane Academy and Pitlochry Primary School in June. The event is designed to highlight awareness of the dangers surrounding construction sites prior to the pupils heading out on their summer holidays. Through a series of interactive scenarios the pupils learn how to identify risks and judge the likelihood of there being a harmful effect and so building their own ‘Risk Radars’.

The goal is not to scare the pupils, but to help them understand they have the power to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others through good decision making. Introducing the pupils to construction sites through an understanding of their purpose and the level of preparation and training required by professionals to stay safe in these environments is the most effective way of enhancing their knowledge and risk radars.

For this age group (8-10 year olds) interactive activities such as role play is a highly effective way of introducing topics such as these. Scientists found that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, however if done with the feeling of joy and safety, the number of repetitions is dramatically reduced [1].

During this event the pupils were appointed as Health and Safety Managers on a site visit and were given high visibility vests to get them into the right mindset.

With the aid of an engineer currently working on the A9 Dualling programme and experienced in the implementation of HSE (Health and Safety Executive) practices, the pupils look at a series of construction site images. They then identify who is at risk; what the risks are, and how to mitigate them, i.e., making the site a safer environment for everyone.

By taking on the role of the site Health and Safety Manager, the pupils took this job very seriously and when presenting their findings to the rest of the class did so perceptively and with confidence. Many were also excited and felt enabled to ask the engineer, who was also wearing full Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), questions about their experience on construction sites. The importance and use of PPE was explained to the pupils during an earlier session.

The final part of the event focused on good decision making and when a good or better decision could have been made to avoid a dangerous situation with serious consequences.  This activity involved ‘freeze framing’, a device used in drama in which participants freeze their bodies to create a scene, as if it was a photograph. It can be used with any age group and is an effective and fun way to discuss ideas, concepts and emotions. A story was read out to the class involving a scenario in which a group of children access a construction site and through a series of bad decisions come to serious harm. The job of the pupils was to analyse the decision-making process and identify the different points where better decisions could have been made. Once this was done the different groups created a freeze frame of that moment and presented it to the rest of the class. This was very successful and each group enthusiastically created very dynamic and impressive freeze frames which not only demonstrated their understanding of the learning outcome but also provided a helpful reflection on the consequences of the decisions of the characters.