Styria wins the national final in Vienna at the 25th anniversary of the SAFETY Tour

On June 18, 2024, the Austrian Civil Protection Association hosted the national finals of the SAFETY Tour – Children’s Safety Olympics in Vienna’s Expedithalle for the 25th time. The participating primary school classes qualified for the grand final in Vienna from numerous preliminary competitions in the regions and nine state finals. Around 20,000 children took part in numerous preliminary competitions of the SAFETY Tour this year.

In the 25 years of the Austria-wide competitions, almost 360,000 children from Austria and neighboring countries have taken part. Over 1,300 competitions were organized by the civil defence associations throughout Austria during this time.

“The civil protection associations have been organizing the Children’s Safety Olympics across the country for 25 years now. We are particularly proud that this year we can celebrate a quarter of a century of the SAFETY Tour and at the same time a record number of participants. In this way we can bring the topic of safety to Austria’s elementary school in an age-appropriate way.” Andreas Hanger, President of the Austrian Civil Defense Association

At the award ceremony the classes were recognized for their outstanding achievements and received thunderous applause from Federal Minister Gerhard Karner, Federal Minister Martin Polaschek and City Councilor Peter Hanke, among others.

“20,000 children took part in the Safety Olympics and that is simply fantastic. I would like to thank the volunteers from the Civil Protection Association, but above all the schools and parents who made this possible,” said Gerhard Karner.

“I am extremely pleased that the SAFETY Tour has been making a significant contribution to the safety education of our children for 25 years. The combination of playful learning and practical exercises is an excellent concept for preparing pupils for dangerous situations. I would like to congratulate all participants and thank the Civil Protection Association for their great work,” said Martin Polaschek.

Peter Hanke, the city councillor responsible for the fire department and civil protection, was impressed: “The children’s theoretical and practical knowledge on the subject of safety and behavior in an emergency is really impressive. This shows once again how important the SAFETY Tour is, conveying important content in a child-friendly and playful way. Even though only one class could be the best in the country today, all the children who took part in the competitions won. My warmest congratulations.”

AUVA has supported the competitions for many years and is a strong partner of the civil protection associations.

“As part of the SAFETY Tour, schoolchildren learn how to behave correctly in emergency situations. As a result, more than 360,000 participating children have been prepared for dangerous situations in the 25-year success story of the SAFETY Tour. This is prevention in action, which we are happy to support in the long term,” emphasizes KR Peter Engelbrechtsmüller.

With skill and team spirit, VS Krakow was able to secure the Austria-wide victory. This means that the title of “Austria’s safest primary school class” goes to Styria on its 25th anniversary. VS Wals from Salzburg followed closely behind in second place and VS Hopfgarten im Brixental from Tyrol in third place.

(c) Edgar Eisner