Health and Safety Commission (HSC) Chair, Judith Hackitt, spent time with a group of 10 and 11 year-olds from Staple Hill Primary School, Page Road, Bristol, at the Lifeskills - Learning for Living training centre.

The HSC Chair was in Bristol to see how the youngsters were taught valuable lessons in "sensible risk" management and to reiterate her message to combat the growing perception of a "cotton-wool" culture in today's society.

The Lifeskills centre is a permanent regional interactive safety education and training facility which has been modelled on a "realistic" village. The village has a number of potential hazards including a road, an electricity substation, a building site and a farm.


Commenting on her visit, Hackitt said: "The Lifeskills centre is an ideal environment for children learn about risks through educational activities and play. What I have seen today are fantastic opportunities that can help children learn important life skills, including handling the type of risks they are faced with themselves.

"Life can never be risk free, we know that. We can't eliminate risk altogether and we want people - and especially children - to continue to enjoy important recreational and learning activities. Children should learn to identify hazards and handle risks. Growing up in cotton wool runs the risk of a generation who are completely unaware of the risks around them, leaving themselves and others very much exposed."

(CD/JM)