Castlebar - County Mayo - Allergan and Mayo County Council School Safety Initiative

Mayo County Council in conjunction with Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland have launched an accident prevention and safety awareness educational programme with three Westport secondary schools in recent weeks.

Carrowbeg College Safety Competition Winners' Presentation. (L-R): Ciaran Rowley, Declan Campbell (Allergan Pharmaceuticals), Michael Walsh, Mary O'Connor (College Principal) and Noel Gibbons (Mayo County Council).

The Mayo County Council’s Road Safety Department and Allergan visited three local secondary schools; Rice College, Carrowbeg College and the Sacred Heart Secondary School, to educate and inform students on safety at work in industry and on road safety.

Noel Gibbons, Road Safety Officer with Mayo County Council, provided an overview of safety on the road and accident prevention. Noel’s incorporated a multimedia element into his presentation including some breathtaking and humorous videos on traffic incidents from around the world.

Sacred Heart Secondary School Safety Competition Winners' Presentation (L-R): Declan Campbell (Allergan Pharmaceuticals), Gearóid O'Riain (Teacher), Anna Murphy, Nadine O'Regan & Mary Rose Connolly (Teacher).

Declan Campbell, Safety Engineer with Allergan Pharmaceuticals, discussed the role of the safety engineer in industry and talked about the exciting career opportunities in the various engineering diciplines especially within industry. Declan shared video clips and photographs of industrial robots and machinery as well as construction accidents to highlight the value of industrial safety awareness.

Declan Campbell comments ‘Oscar Wilde once said that ‘youth is wasted on the young’ but from my brief experience working with these students on the subject of safety with their probing questions, positive comments and general interest I cannot say I agree with him.’

‘With communities (Local Authorities, Schools and Industry) working together on these types of initiatives, lives can be saved and mind-sets can be positively changed for the better. It’s all about reaching out and engaging and educating young people on relevant safety topics and on accident prevention strategies.’ said Declan Campbell

Allergan is an integral part of the Westport community and run numerous events during the year to support and assist local community groups. Allergan’s Environmental, Health and Safety Department are actively involved in promoting and fostering safety and environmental events in the local community.

Rice College Safety Competition Winners' Presentation (L-R): Mr. Michael Rabbette (Deputy Principal), Gabriel Batista, Jonathan Doyle, Declan Campbell (Allergan) and Noel Gibbons (Mayo CoCo).

Prizes consisted of a Car Safety Kit and a GlowCoatTM Fashionable Reflective coat. Note the GlowCoat doing its road safety reflective job at Rice!