Scott Chalmers and Louise McGregor from SSEN with local school pupils attending the Safe Taysiders event

Pupils from Perth and Kinross are now equipped with vital safety information as Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) attended the annual Safe Taysiders event.

The two-week event, organised by the Community Safety Partnership and held at the Queens Barracks in Perth, was attended by over 1,500 Primary 7 pupils from across the Perth and Kinross council area.

20 employees from SSEN's Perthshire regions worked alongside 15 other organisations to promote safety inside and outside of the home, helping the children learn about different hazards, how to avoid them and how to respond in an emergency. The vital safety information and demonstrations included gas safety, cyber security, the environment, farming safety, fires, flooding and CPR.

Samantha O'Connor, Regional Customer Relationship Manager at SSEN, said:

"We've been supporting the Safe Taysiders event for a number of years now and it's great to meet so many enthusiastic young members of our community who are interested in finding out more about how to stay safe inside and outside of their homes."

"Safety is SSEN's primary objective and the Safe Taysiders event provides us with a unique opportunity to reach a huge range of pupils on an annual basis, reminding them of the dangers associated with electricity and letting them know if it's not safe, we don't do it."

Chris Smith, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, organised the event this year. He said:

"Altogether we informed over 1,500 primary seven children from every school within Perth & Kinross. All the Safety Messages passed to them are not only because of their age, or because they are about to enter secondary education, it is far greater reaching than that, as these safety messages are for life. It will keep them and their families safe just now and as they grow their future families safe."

SSEN's stand at the event included a mock substation and safety signage to remind youngsters of the dangers of playing near electrical equipment and also provided local pupils the opportunity to try on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used to work on SSEN's electricity network.

For hints and tips on how to stay safe around electrical equipment, visit https://www.ssen.co.uk/ChildrensSafety/.