Kosice, April 19th 2007 - Today the final evaluation of the grant program "More Safely at Schools" was done at U. S. Steel Kosice. The evaluation committee consisting of professionals from schools, occupational safety and health, one non-governmental organization and the program organizer selected the five best solutions from the 71 projects. Implementation of these 5 projects will be supported by U. S. Steel Kosice with more than 1 million Slovak crowns.

"The aim of the program is to increase safety of pupils, students and teachers in the Kosice and Presov regions," said Company President David H. Lohr. "In our steel mill we believe that all accidents and all injuries are preventable. Thanks to this credo and all measures introduced in the safety area, injury frequency has been lowered by 80% during the last six years. Our employees are demonstrating that the goal of zero injuries is attainable. We want to show that this is also possible at home, at school, in sports and leisure time, and that is why we have offered a helping hand to schools now."
All kinds of schools answered the grant announcement, from kindergartens to colleges. Applicants pointed out many problems in school safety - an analysis has been given to education departments' representatives. The winning projects have original and clear aims, and in addition to that they fulfill all formal criteria. They also include active participation of students, teachers, parents, the local community and other partners in the preparation and implementation of the solutions. So the result should be not only better safety at schools but a change in thinking about safety as well.

List of the winning projects:

• Safe school or no entry for irresponsible people, Private Secondary Film School, Kosice
• Occupational safety preparation for students of the Secondary Metallurgical Vocational School for quick adaptation to conditions in manufacturing workplaces, Kosice - Saca
• Revitalization of the school infrastructure, Private Secondary Vocational School ELBA, Presov
• Safety at school from the students' point of view, Elementary School and Kindergarten, Poproc
• Responsible to ourselves - responsible to others, Elementary School, Vysna Rybnica

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Further information:

Jan Baca
spokesman
U. S. Steel Kosice, s.r.o.
Tel.: +421 55 673 4476
Fax: +421 55 673 0330