Safety Heroes crack the code

As part of Electrical Safety Week (4-8 September), our Safety Heroes program taught students across Queensland how to use and interact safely with electricity within the home and community.

Executive General Manager Karen Stafford said the Safety Heroes program had evolved over the years to accommodate neurodiversity, remote learning during the pandemic, and new technology.

“We have a couple of exciting additions this year – the Safety Heroes gaming app and a Scratch project developed in collaboration with Code Club Australia, which allows students to create their own electrical safety game.

“The Safety Heroes app is a free, fully immersive game students can download to their phone or tablet and move their chosen character around a virtual city or rural landscape, collecting safety points while avoiding electrical hazards,” she said.

The educational program has been specially developed for primary school students with electrical safety tips they can use themselves and teach their own family.

“Children are sponges for information, so now is the time to ensure that when they’re using phones, tablets, gaming consoles and household appliances, they do so with electrical safety at the forefront of their minds,” Ms Stafford said.

“The Safety Heroes program and app contains very practical and interactive lessons for students with potentially lifesaving information they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“These are also tips they can share with their families and we’re encouraging parents and carers to ask their children what they learnt from the Safety Heroes program to keep the important conversation going after school.”

Ms Stafford said students would also be taught about electrical safety in the community.

“The electricity network in your neighbourhood is very safe, but it can pose dangers if people forget to take simple precautions - and these are highlighted during the Safety Heroes program and in the interactive game app.

“Being aware of overhead powerlines, understanding you should never try to enter our network facilities, not touching fallen powerlines after severe weather and knowing not to fly kites or drones near the power network is fundamental to staying safe at a street level and part of the program’s key safety messages.”

97% of Queensland primary schools registered for the Safety Heroes program in 2023.