New s Gal l er y

SHAPE Community Life 6 February 2013 3

Student safety is paramount at NATO`s Supreme Headquarters
Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) international school and toward
the end of last year, a construction contractor, Wayss & Freytag
Ingenieurbau AG, demonstrated the dangers of vehicles and
trucks to more than 40 SHAPE schoolchildren.
Belgian primary school students moved into temporary facilities
in November to accommodate the construction of the future
school campus. Each morning on their way to class, students
cross the construction site entrance in front of their school, said
Mr. Asad Mirza, a Wayss & Freytag project engineer
and briefng organizer.
"For the 6- to 13-yearold children attending school
in the [temporary facilities], there may be new and
unfamiliar dangers lurking," said Mr. Mirza. "So we
asked SHAPE International School if it was okay to
do a safety briefng and they thought it was a good
chance to show the children they have to be careful."
The SHAPE community is in the midst of moderniz-
ing its international school campus. Modernization
translates into the construction of four state-of-the-
art schools: American elementary, middle, and high
schools, and an international school are slated to
replace current aging facilities dating back to the
1960s. Today and for the foreseeable future, con-
struction and education take place in close proximity
at SHAPE.
Mr. Mirza, together with Mr. Evangelos Tsipras, a
Wayss & Freytag mechanical engineer, set up the
safety demonstration by marking off the blind spot
or blind angle of a large, parked construction truck.
"Classes 6a and 6b were allowed to take on the role
of truck driver, thanks in part to the subcontractor Peremans,"
said Mr. Mirza. "They climbed into the seat to see exactly what
a driver sees, and more importantly, doesn`t see in the blind
angle. The children sitting in the driver`s seat were surprised
that their whole class could ft in the blind angle. They were quite
impressed and will keep that in mind."
According to Mr. Mirza, the idea of educating SHAPE students
on vehicle awareness was borrowed. His service club in Germa-
ny conducts similar briefngs for local elementary schools. The
objective is to teach young kids to seek to be seen by drivers,
look left and right when crossing the street - even if there is no
noise - and to pay attention at all roads and intersections.
Mr. Dennis Mayer (USA - Civ), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Europe District project engineer overseeing SHAPE schools,
applauded Wayss & Freytag for executing the voluntary safety
briefng.
"The beneft is enhanced safety around the construction site,"
said Mr. Mayer. "As a dad, whatever we can do to improve the
safety and security of kids makes me happy."
Teachers and educators were also thrilled with the demonstration.
Jean-Francios Climino (BEL - Civ), a SHAPE International School
teacher explained, role-playing is always more effcient and that
is what our students were able to do - be the truck driver.
"Children and even adults are now aware of what a driver sees,"
he said. "The behavior of the children changed immediately after
the training."
The practical display of danger made more of an impression than
a classroom course could have, noted Mr. Mirza.
"Kids have to beware because of their size and the size of the
trucks," he said. "Even though they are in their own world, they
are more a part of it now. They have experienced the truck driv-
er`s perspective."
The safety exercise`s aim was to heighten student awareness
around the school construction site. Vehicle blind spots, especially
those of trucks, are much larger than the average adult or child
realizes. The truck used in the demonstration had a 40-degree
blind spot extending away from the vehicle, said Mr. Mirza.
"This should also increase awareness when they are not at
school," he noted.
Children are frequently in the presence of trucks, SUVs and
minivans at shopping centers, in neighborhoods and near parks.
The Europe District is grateful to Wayss & Freytag for taking
measures to decrease the likelihood of vehicle-related accidents
in the community, Mayer said.
"Children are led by guidance; we have to teach them what is
right," he added.
USACE Contractor Teaches NATO Students Vehicle Safety
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