Children at a primary school in Carmarthen have been learning about the dangers of construction sites thanks to the efforts of staff at award-winning Llanelli-based construction company Morganstone.
While accidents involving children entering construction sites are thankfully rare, accidents do happen in the UK every year. As such, Morganstone runs a continuous education programme at schools near its construction sites to make sure children understand the risks, stay away and stay safe.
Yesterday (Thursday 21, January), the company visited Model Primary School in Carmarthen and ran a poster competition designed to highlight the dangers of construction sites.
Antonia John, the company’s community engagement manager, was joined by special guest Ivor Goodsite at the school, site manager Ceri Hughes and Grwp Gwalia’s community development officer Vicky Watts. Ivor is a costumed character developed by the Considerate Constructors Scheme who is regularly used by Morganstone to engage with school pupils to encourage safety on and around construction sites.
Pupils joined Ivor to watch a video about the dangers of active building sites and why you should not play on one. Morganstone chose to speak with pupils at Model Primary School because it has an ongoing development nearby, just off Heol Dyfnallt, Carmarthen which they are building on behalf of Grwp Gwalia.
As the school is a large primary school, Morganstone carried out two presentations and launched two competitions to accommodate all of the pupils.
Morganstone’s community engagement manager, Antonia John, said:
“We run an ongoing education programme making sure we visit the schools closest to our building sites and engage with the pupils to make sure they are aware of the very real dangers of playing on a construction site.
“Ivor brings an element of fun to the presentation but there is a very serious message with everything that we talk about. We get a great response from children regarding the video, and we will be back later on in the year to announce the winners.”