School pupils from Dundee, Forfar and Carnoustie took part in a poster competition designed to raise awareness of health and safety.

The competition was set by Robertson which is the main contractor in the £90m Dundee Schools project and the £50m Angus Schools rebuilding programme.

Now in it second year and following the theme of "Lighten The Load", the competition has been established in support of a campaign by the Scottish Chamber of Safety to make young people more aware of health and safety.

The competition included all pupils from Claypotts Castle, Fintry and Downfield primary schools in Dundee, Langlands and Strathmore primaries in Forfar and Woodlands and Burnside primary schools in Carnoustie. It was split into two categories and aimed at pupils from primary four to seven and children from primary one to three.


All posters were judged in individual school heats before Dr Bob Rajan-Sithamparanadarajah CBE, in his role as a management committee member of Safety Groups UK, judged the category winners.

Primary three pupil from Woodlands Primary in Carnoustie, Heidi McMillan shone as the overall winner from the lower school competition and Chloe Acheson - a primary six pupil from Burnside Primary in Carnoustie - equally impressed the judges to win the upper school competition.

Each winner received a certificate as well as £25 of book tokens and £250 of vouchers towards educational equipment for their school. The winning posters will also be used on Robertson construction sites throughout the UK to remind workers to think before they lift.

Norman Stevenson, Senior Safety Health and Environmental Manager for Robertson said: "As well as giving the pupils an incentive to win book tokens for themselves and equipment for their schools, I believe the 'think before you lift' message is valuable to learn at an early age.

"It was really difficult to select the winners however we believe that Heidi and Chloe's entries really shone through and demonstrated that extra bit of creativity and imagination to demonstrate that workers need to think before they lift."

(GK/JM)