In a unique endeavour to effectively motivate festive revellers of the need to light firecrackers safely during the forthcoming year-end festivities, Aviva NDB Insurance joined hands with the Fireworks Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka and inserted a timely warning inside 200,000 packs manufactured by its members.
In a unique endeavour to effectively motivate festive revellers of the need to light firecrackers safely during the forthcoming year-end festivities, Aviva NDB Insurance joined hands with the Fireworks Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka and inserted a timely warning inside 200,000 packs manufactured by its members.
The trilingual warning to "Light firecrackers safely" was printed in the form of a easily visible yellow circle and handed over to the President of the association for distribution among the membership, well in time for the season, when the firecrackers were in the process of being manufactured.
The warning was produced as a joint message from Aviva NDB and the Fireworks Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka. The message included an image of a family to capture the attention of young children, who are the most likely victims to be maimed or blinded as a result of firecracker accidents.
The president of the Fireworks Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka, R Lawrance stated: “From media reports it has been publicized that previously, lighting crackers in an unsafe manner during festive occasions had caused injuries that have blighted lives. However I am pleased to note that since companies such as Aviva NDB Insurance commenced creating awareness, the injuries resulting from lighting firecrackers has been minimized.”
Amal Perera, general manager, marketing and customer management commented: “Aviva NDB has been promoting safe lighting of firecrackers as a corporate responsibility endeavour since 1994 in view of news reports that a large number of children were maimed for life during festive seasons. This corporate responsibility endeavour has become a hallmark of the company’s corporate responsibility stance and has significantly contributed to reducing the number of injuries from crackers during festive seasons. We hope to extend this endeavour to cover all fireworks produced in future seasons.”
In April this year the company innovatively used animators dressed in "firecracker costumes" to distribute safety messages near schools and shopping malls to educate young families preparing for Avurudu festivities.
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About Aviva
Aviva is the world’s sixth largest* insurance group, serving over 44.5 million customers across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Aviva's main business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £47.1 billion and funds under management of £402 billion at 31 December 2010. Aviva is the largest insurance services provider in the UK and one of the leading providers of life and pensions products in Europe.
*based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2010
About NDB Bank
NDB Group is one of the largest financial conglomerates in Sri Lanka, operating regionally in Maldives and Bangladesh. The Group offers project finance, corporate banking, SME lending, retail banking, investment banking, stock broking, wealth management and insurance solutions under one roof. NDB Bank has a AA (lka) rating by Fitch Ratings Lanka and is amongst the best in the industry reflecting the bank's strong financial profile in terms of its capital base, profitability and asset quality. NDB Bank is one of the highest capitalised private sector commercial banks in Sri Lanka.