On 21st and 22nd June, neighbouring companies Toray Carbon Fibers Europe and Vertex, in partnership with the local Fire Brigade, held a series of workshops to teach primary school children in Pardies (South West France) about First Aid and the basics of health and safety in the home.
Adopting Good Habits from a Young Age
As a socially responsible company, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe believes that it is important to contribute actively to the local community. Drawing on our experience and professional knowledge of health and safety matters, we contacted the local primary school in Pardies to see if they would be interested in us running a First Aid themed day for the children. The idea was to create a series of hands-on activities to teach the youngsters in a fun way about dealing with accidents.
Through a series of games, the children learnt to identify potential dangers that could cause an accident in the home and how to avoid these situations. In small groups, pupils as young as 6 years old used role-plays to practise calling the emergency services to report an accident and provide clear information about the nature of the person’s injuries. The workshop also included a practical First Aid session in which the children were taught how to put victims into the recovery position and even carry out CPR.
Feedback from the Children
« The best bit was when we had to press on the dummy’s body to try to wake his heart up » (Lily, 6 years old)
« I really liked putting the victim with a pretend wound into the recovery position and learning to identify dangers like medicine left on the hand basin in the bathroom. Thank you for this morning. » (Mia, 7 years old)
« Learning about First Aid was brilliant, especially the CPR bit: you had to cover the children with a survival blanket that was shiny gold and silver. They were pretending to be hurt. » (Neïti, 8 years old).
The event was a great success with the whole school, including the teachers, joining in enthusiastically in all the activities. In total, 75 children participated in the workshops held over two consecutive days. It was particularly rewarding to see how the use of role-plays enabled the pupils to become more confident in assessing and managing an accident in a calm and practical manner. Without doubt, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe will run other health and safety workshops at other schools in the local area.
