NAPO European Union Toolkits

The ‘Napo for Teachers’ initiative

EU-OSHA helps primary school teachers to bring safety and health into the classroom

Article published on 29 September 2012

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), together with the Napo Consortium, is presenting a new project aimed at promoting basic health and safety knowledge to primary school children.

The ‘Napo for Teachers’ initiative makes a variety of educational aids available to teachers online. Aimed at children aged between seven and 11, the resources are based on the cartoon character Napo, who helps EU-OSHA to spread the message of workplace safety and health in a light and engaging way.

Each of the six lesson plans includes a dedicated helpsheet for teachers to introduce them to the subject and is accompanied by tailored video clips and language free resources.

The Napo video clips and creative activities are intended to explore the topics in an enjoyable and informative way, while the interactive nature of the lesson plans ensures the children are kept interested and involved in the topics.

Dr Christa Sedlatschek, director of EU-OSHA, said that “integrating occupational safety and health topics into the educational curriculum is an important part of developing a prevention culture, helping to reduce risks in the workplace and in general day-to-day life. Introducing children to these topics at an early age establishes the foundations for safe and healthy habits which will serve them well throughout their lives”.

Following successful pilot testing in four countries, the toolkits are now available in six languages (Danish, English, French, German, Slovenian and Spanish), and are being promoted in 10 EU states where these languages are spoken. Subject to positive results of a future evaluation, more languages will be incorporated in the short term with a goal for the development of further lesson plans in the long term.

The free toolkits may be downloaded from Napo’s website.