Scarborough pupils become safety ambassadors

Play Safe and Stay Safe’ is the message that students from Gladstone Road Infant School in Scarborough will be helping to spread after a visit from Northern Gas Networks.

The safety-conscious pupils are working with the north’s pipeline owner and United Utilities to ensure that their classmates know how to act safely while roadworks are in place on Falsgrave Road close to their school.

Every year, Northern Gas Networks invests more than £82 million in improving the gas mains across the North of England, inevitably some of these projects are close to schools. The ‘Play Safe, Stay Safe’ scheme was designed to alert students to the dangers associated with playing near excavations and barriers.

The work is carried out on behalf of Northern Gas Networks by its operating partner United Utilities. Sarah Meakin, United Utilities’ Customer Liaison Officer visited the school to talk about safety around roadworks, she said:

“The pupils from Gladstone Road Infants are now great ambassadors for safety in the area, we hope they will continue to spread the message that road works are just like building sites and need to be treated with respect. Playing near them or tinkering with equipment like barriers, pipes and signs can put them and other people at risk.”

“Safety is paramount in everything we do, but we can’t be at every road works site 24-hours a day. We really appreciate the help that the pupils from Gladstone Road Infant School have given us to spread this important safety message.”

United Utilities runs the region’s gas emergency service on behalf of Northern Gas Networks and responds free to gas escapes 24-hours a day.