ABP’S SUMMER SAFETY CAMPAIGN – A WARNING TO THE YOUNG AND CURIOUS
For the second year running, Associated British Ports (ABP) – which owns and operates 21 ports around the UK – has launched a summer safety campaign to warn children of the dangers of trespassing and swimming in its docks and harbours.
ABP has published a series of deliberately shocking posters and leaflets to get its vital message, that ‘the port is not a playground’, across to schoolchildren. The posters warn of the extreme danger of trespassing in the hazardous, operational areas of ports. They also bring attention to the perils of interfering with ABP ports’ safety equipment, such as lifebuoys.
Raising awareness of the dangers of swimming in the docks, ABP warns that the water there is cold, dark and unpredictable. There are heavy objects submerged in the depths, which may not be visible when a boy or girl jumps off from the quayside. In addition, the docks may be polluted with harmful bacteria and pollutants, and there is the danger of contracting Weil’s disease, which is carried in rats’ urine that children imbibe while swimming in the water.
The campaign has the full backing and support of the British Safety Council, IOSH (the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health) and RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).
Bo Lerenius, CBE, ABP’s Group Chief Executive, said: “At ABP, safety is our priority. We have worked hard to ensure our staff work as safely as possible, and we have seen some hugely positive results come out of this.
“By bringing out our posters and engaging with local schoolchildren face-to-face, we hope to spread our words of warning as widely as we can. By making the posters provocative, we also hope to make them memorable. We are not killjoys, just strong believers in promoting responsible behaviour among all those who live and play in the communities around our ports, especially vulnerable schoolchildren.”
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