Health and safety week at Sir Temi Zammit

'Health and Safety at places of work' was this year's main theme at Sir Temi Zammit boys' secondary school, Mtarf. Throughout the year the school's upper forms have been visiting various places of work to view their health and safety procedures and subsequently undertook project work on the subject.

Between March 20 and 23 the school is organising a health and safety open week with displays of health, safety and language project work that the students produced after these visits, apart from a number of other activities and events at the school for parents and students alike.

Several guest speakers on various health and safety issues have been invited to give talks to students and parents. The talks will be accompanied by PowerPoint presentations, practical IT sessions and various other activities, including one on 'Eating a healthy breakfast at school', all of which will enhance awareness and make students become familiar with health and safety practices, whether it is in the home, on the street or at places of work.

All in all, a fun learning experience is promised to students, teachers and all those who visit the school during the open week.

The initiative was triggered off by the Health and Safety Expo 2006, whose main aim was to bring together the main partners involved in child safety education to share resources and good practices.

This gave Tanya Agius, one of the school's health and safety teachers, the idea to organise a series of activities in collaboration with other subject teachers at the school, Home Economics, ICT, PSD and the Language teachers, to make their students more aware of health and safety issues.

The first visit of the year was to ST Microelectronics Ltd. Students, accompanied by Ms Agius, Mr Cauchi, Ms Farrugia and Ms Grech, viewed a multimedia presentation on health and safety devices and procedures at the company that ensure product quality and a safe environment for employees. They were later taken on an informative tour around the workplace.

Students noted that the firm observed health and safety regulations and implemented good practices, such as the use of safety signs and protective clothing at the workplace since this benefited both the company and its employees.

Later at school, students worked on health and safety projects, which involved the different use of fire extinguishers, safety signage, best practices and different types of protective clothing at places of work.

The second school visit was organised by Ms Agius to Simonds Farsons Cisk and Gasan Enterprises Ltd, respectively. Both being big companies in Malta, these places of work provided an interesting opportunity for students to realise how important it is for employees to be aware of and contribute to safety at their places of work. Accompanying students on the visit were Ms Agius, Ms Attard, Ms Farrugia, Ms Grech and Mr Magro, another health and safety teacher.

Students became aware of how essential it is for health regulations and hygienic procedures to be strictly adhered to, especially where food and beverages are concerned. The students' project work related to best health practice when dealing with alcoholic beverage production and automobile safety.

The third visit, organised by Ms Borg and Ms Agius to the Eurostar Automotive Repair Centre, raised the students' awareness on how important it is to have a waste management programme and how to stay safe when dealing with toxic chemicals or materials.

The students' health and safety projects dealt with safety regulations on the road, healthy technological environments and recommended waste management at places of work.