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Lead
Awareness Publicity
You may recently have heard or seen advertisements about
lead safety. These form part of the "Living Safely with Lead" campaign arranged
by the NSW Lead Reference Centre. The following extracts describe who the campaign is
aimed at, how it will operate and what it aims to achieve.
Target audiences
The main target groups for the campaign are parents,
renovators and lead industry workers. Parents, including people wanting to have children,
expectant parents and parents of children under 4, are major agents of change and play a
critical role in reducing the risk of children being exposed to potential risk. Renovators
of pre-1970 houses include those undertaking major home renovations and those planning
relatively minor maintenance activities, such as painting a door or demolishing an old
shed. Lead Industry workers includes a wide range of occupations from "obvious"
lead industries such as mining and smelting through to "secondary" industries
including building and construction trades, car repairers and metal workers. Some of these
people may be aware of their exposure to lead in the workplace, but may be unaware that
they are taking lead dust or chips home and exposing their families to risk.
Media Strategy
The campaign has strong print and radio
components, and includes a high quality TV Community Service Announcement
(CSA). The TV ads were aired during January / February – the slow period
for traditional advertising activity. Additional below-the-line material is
also anticipated. Activities to complement the strategy include a
Ministerial launch, media activities in newspapers and special interest
magazines and journals, promotional materials and distribution of campaign
materials through stakeholder networks.
Demonstrated Outcomes of the Campaign
The campaign will be monitored through the range of
activities that it is designed to promote.
Increase awareness of lead issues in NSW.
High levels of interest from the community after recent
media activities focusing on lead have demonstrated that messages about lead have
considerable cut-through. Social research indicates that the community is concerned about
the effects of lead on health. The campaign will increase community awareness about the
issue and what can be done to reduce exposure. It will increase inquiries to information
lines and lead to an increase in the distribution of information materials. It should also
add to the amount of media coverage of the issue.
Increase awareness of sources of lead hazards in
homes, workplaces and the environment.
Social research indicates that levels of knowledge among
the community of different sources of lead are low. The campaign will broaden knowledge
about multiple sources of hazards and enable individuals and the community to identify
sources of lead in their homes and workplaces and the environment. The campaign will
increase demand for information on sources of lead.
Increase demand for lead assessment and abatement
services.
Currently few people are aware of the importance of using
lead safe building practices when renovating their homes. A number of private sector
service providers are available to carry out assessments and abatement of lead hazards in
domestic and commercial buildings. In the long term, these sorts of campaigns should
increase the use of these services and promote the growth of this sector.
Increase the use of lead safe building practices.
The campaign will inform people undertaking renovations of
the hazards present in pre-1970 houses and alert them to the dangers of unsafe building
and renovation practices. The campaign should create demand for more information from
do-it-yourself renovators and professional trades people on lead safe work practices and
training.
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