Safety vests, commonly seen in the factory environment, are equally important in daycare settings. Therefore, UPM Pellos donated reflective vests to the local Ristiina daycare centre’s children and staff to enhance safety and visibility on the playground and during excursions. And what better occasion to don the new gear than the opening of the new daycare centre, completed at the turn of the year, on March 20, 2024.
According to the daycare centre director Jaana Vartiainen, the safety vests bring joy to both the staff and the children, with each group receiving vests in their own colour. The daycare centre had hoped that a local company would seize the opportunity, allowing for the replacement of heavily used accessories in celebration of the occasion.
"We use safety vests every day here. They are routinely worn both on the playground and outside the daycare centre, when we go, for instance, to the campfire or library. In such cases, the vests improve the group's visibility and safety in traffic," Vartiainen explains.
According to Vartiainen, the daycare centre comprises several buildings, and in the afternoon, all six groups play on the same playground. The color-coding enhances safety, allowing caregivers to distinguish their own group's children, and vice versa, based on the safety vests.
According to Petri Tikkanen, Safety Specialist at UPM Pellos, the safety vests are a nice investment in the safety of both children and staff.
"At Pellos, and within UPM as a whole, safety is an important part of everyday life, and it's good to learn this from an early age. Donating safety vests is a nice and useful way to contribute to both everyday safety and special occasions at the daycare centre," Tikkanen concludes.
