A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, they are known as an announcement in the public interest (API).
Hazard symbols or warning symbols are recognisable symbols designed to warn about hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or objects, including electromagnetic fields, electric currents; harsh, toxic or unstable chemicals ; and radioactivity. The use of hazard symbols is often regulated by law and directed by standards organizations. Hazard symbols may appear with different colors, backgrounds, borders, and supplemental information in order to specify the type of hazard and the level of threat. Warning symbols are used in many places in lieu of or addition to written warnings as they are quickly recognized and more commonly understood.
Charley Says is a series of short cut-out animated cartoon public information films for children, produced by the British government's Central Office of Information and broadcast in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s. Six films were made in 1973.
The Gathering is a 2002 British thriller/horror film directed by Brian Gilbert and starring Christina Ricci.
Stranger danger is the idea or warning that all strangers can potentially be dangerous. The phrase is intended to encapsulate the danger associated with adults whom children do not know. The phrase has found widespread usage and many children will hear it during their childhood. Many books, films and public service announcements have been devoted to helping children remember this advice.
Julie, also known as Julie knew her killer, is the title of a British public information film (PIF) about the importance of wearing a seatbelt in the rear of a car. It ran on national television from 1998 to 2003, and was so successful it was also shown in France, Germany and Australia, as well as being remade by Royal Dutch Shell for broadcast in Libya.
Joe and Petunia is a four part series of public information films from the UK. The series was made by Nicholas Cartoons, which was also responsible for the 1981 television series Willo the Wisp. The films were animated and featured Joe, a tiny little man in pinstripes, and Petunia, his wife who wore a hat and sunglasses. The voices were played by Wendy Craig as Petunia, later replaced by Brigit Forsyth for the last film, and Peter Hawkins as Joe. In each film, they cause danger with their avoidable accidents, advising the public on what not to do in a similar situation.
Apaches is a 1977 British public information film. Produced by Graphic Films for the Central Office of Information (COI) for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it was shown extensively in the Southern, Westward, Anglia and ATV regions, before being shown either on film or videocassette in primary schools. It was shot on 16mm film at a Home Counties farm in February 1977, and child actors were selected from a school in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The 26-minute-long film deals with the subject of the dangers to children on farms, and has been seen in schools all over Britain, as well as Canada, Australia and the United States. The timeframe of the film is somewhat disjointed, giving a surreal feeling to the events portrayed.
Building Sites Bite is a public information film produced by the Central Office of Information for the Health and Safety Executive and the Mighty Movie Company for British schools to warn children about the dangers of playing on building sites. It was written and directed by David Hughes and produced by Maggie Evans. The film was shot in early 1978 and is 28 minutes in duration. Because of the style of filming and grim subject matter, it is often compared to the earlier films Apaches and The Finishing Line, both released the previous year.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is a British organisation established in 1983 to protect and represent the interests of its members' intellectual property (IP). FACT also investigates fraud and cybercrime, and provides global due diligence services to support citizenship investment and trade, business, financial and legal compliance.
Embrace Life is a short British public information film made for the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) about the importance of wearing seat belts. Released on 20 January 2010 and initially only shown in the local Sussex area, the short film became an international phenomenon after it was distributed on the internet, through social networking sites and YouTube, gaining over a million views in its first two weeks. By 13 February 2010 it had reached 129 different countries, was the 5th top rated video that month on YouTube and was the most top rated YouTube film of all time in the education category. The film achieved the highest rating of No. 8 Top Rated film on YouTube, and as of 27 March 2013 it has had over 16,599,000 views. The film has been praised for its beauty and its emotional impact. The film has so far not been shown on television as part of a road safety campaign; although that was for which it was primarily designed and its spread has been almost entirely through the internet.
Cow, also titled Only Stwpd Cowz Txt N Drive, is a 30-minute public information film directed by Peter Watkins-Hughes with assistance from Gwent Police and Tredegar Comprehensive School in Wales. The August 2009 film was a co-production by Gwent Police and Tred Films, with special effects by Zipline Creative Limited. The film features original music by Stuart Fox, a composer and sound designer from Gloucester, England. A previous film, "Lucky Luke," was intended to warn about the dangers of joyriding; "Cow" was intended to be a sequel of sorts. The film was shown to students in the UK and was released on YouTube.
Lonely Water is a 1973 British Public Information film made for the Central Office of Information (COI). The film aimed to warn children of the dangers of careless or foolhardy behaviour in the vicinity of water, and was shown regularly on TV for several years during breaks in children's programming. Lonely Water is widely recalled as one of the most memorable and chilling of PIFs. In a poll carried out by the BBC on the 60th anniversary of the COI in 2006, Lonely Water was chosen as the UK's fourth-favourite PIF of all time and the highest ranked one-off production. Dozens of comments attested to the film's power and lasting impact on 1970s children.
Water safety refers to the procedures, precautions and policies associated with safety in, on, and around bodies of water, where there is a risk of injury or drowning. It has applications in several occupations, sports and recreational activities.
A refrigerator death is death by suffocation in a refrigerator or other air-tight appliance. Because, by design, such appliances are air-tight when closed, a person entrapped inside will have a low supply of oxygen. Early refrigerators could only be opened from the outside, making accidental entrapment a possibility, particularly of children playing with discarded appliances; many such deaths have been recorded. Modern designs close with a magnetic mechanism that can be opened from the inside, reducing the danger of accidental entrapment.
Play Safe is a series of three public information films (PIFs) directed by David Eady and broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1978 highlighting to children the dangers of playing near overhead power lines and electrical substations. The broadcasts were sponsored by the Electricity Council, as part of wider efforts to educate the public about electricity. In a fashion typical for such broadcasts of the period, the films were made to be frightening for young children – depicting graphic electrocution scenes well before the 9pm watershed for programmes unsuitable for children. Television transmission was typically most frequent during school holidays and at times of day dedicated to children's programming.
The 2015–2016 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a series of heavy rainfall events which led to flooding during the winter of late 2015 and early 2016. 11 named storms produced record level rainfall from November 2015 - March 2016 in both monthly and seasonal accumulation records.
Mr. Ouch is a hazard symbol developed by the US’s National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to represent electrical hazard within pad-mounted transformers. Unlike other high-voltage warning symbols, Mr. Ouch was specifically designed with young children in mind. It is part of NEMA Standard 260-1996, Safety Labels for Pad-Mounted Switchgear and Transformers Sited in Public Areas, which lays out design guidelines for a complete label design that incorporates the Mr. Ouch symbol.
On December 23, 2015, the power grid in two western oblasts of Ukraine was hacked, which resulted in power outages for roughly 230,000 consumers in Ukraine for 1-6 hours. The attack took place during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-present) and is attributed to a Russian advanced persistent threat group known as "Sandworm". It is the first publicly acknowledged successful cyberattack on a power grid.
The Green Cross Code is a brand created by the National Road Safety Committee to raise awareness of pedestrian road safety in the United Kingdom. The multimedia Green Cross Code campaign began in 1970 and continues today.
