The team from Carinthia won the national final of the SAFETY Tour. Second place went to Burgenland, while the team from Styria came third.

On 20 June, the Austrian Civil Protection Association hosted the national final of the SAFETY Tour (Children’s Safety Olympics) in Vienna’s Marx Halle. The participants had qualified for the final competition in Vienna after a total of 62 preliminary competitions in the regions and nine federal state finals. Almost 20,000 children took part in this year’s events.

Hermagor Primary School secured an outstanding victory in the national final, so that the title of “Austria’s safest primary school class” goes to them in Carinthia this year. Eberau Primary School from Burgenland came a close second, followed by Altenmarkt Primary School near Fürstenfeld (Styria) in third placeFor more than 20 years, the SAFETY Tour has been bringing the topic of safety to primary schools in a way that is appropriate for children of that age. It was particularly pleasing to see that we were once again able to welcome almost 800 primary school classes to the competitions in the first year after the pandemic,said Civil Protection President Andreas Hanger.

Guests of honour at the award ceremony included Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, Education Minister Martin Polaschek and, representing the Mayor of Vienna, Director of Education Heinrich Himmer.

I would like to thank all the volunteers, schools and the Civil Protection Association for the fantastic organisation of the Children’s Safety Olympics. It allows thousands of children throughout Austria to learn about safety through play,noted Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.

Education Minister Martin Polaschek stressed in particular the good cooperation between all the institutions involved in the SAFETY Tour: “The topic of safety is of central importance in our schools. Our educational institutions must be places where our children can develop and learn freely. A safe environment is a key factor here. Today’s event clearly demonstrates the interest in this. I would like to thank all the participants, especially the national Ministry of the Interior BMI and the Department of Education of the city of Vienna.”