Brazilian Federal Law No.12645 introduced October 10th as the National Day for Health and Safety in Schools, or, set a day to be dedicated to this subject in the school environment. Traditionally, health and safety expressions have been used together to describe a problem associated with the world of work, with little integration in school environment. However, it is clear that the challenge of promoting the health and safety of workers needs to gain new dimensions and be extended to other actors, since the conventional actions are failing to sufficiently promote the health and safety of workers.
The National Day for Health and Safety in Schools was set up precisely to promote such approach between school and the world of occupational health and safety. The advent of this law was the result of an act of citizenship that came from a professional, a safety technician who voluntarily developed educational activities of a preventive nature in schools of Rio de Janeiro. Based on this experience, he drafted and sent to the Senate the bill which resulted in the establishment of a day dedicated to health and safety in schools.
The Law, which established the date, also gives some suggestions to address the health and safety in schools, such as, lectures, writing and essay contests, election of accident prevention agent in school, visit to companies. In addition to these, schools and educators can also create other activities.
More info : Fundacentro’s Primer (Portuguese)
