This publication consists largely of a series of practical exercises. The material is divided into the following sections: Setting up groups; running groups; attitudes and approaches; access to information; undertaking a programme of work; reviewing and evaluating.

BACKGROUND: Childhood unintentional injury represents an important global health problem. Many unintentional injuries experienced by children aged under 5 years occur within the home and are preventable. The aim of this study was to explore the approaches used by parents of children under five in order to help prevent unintentional injuries in the home and the factors which influence their use. Understanding how parents approach risk-management in the home has important implications for injury practitioners. METHODS: A multi-centre qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data. Sixty five parents of children aged under 5 years, from four study areas were interviewed: Bristol, Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham. RESULTS: Three main injury prevention strategies used by parents were: a) Environmental such as removal of hazards, and use of safety equipment; b) parental supervision; and c) teaching, for example, teaching children about safety and use of rules and routine. Strategies were often used in combination due to their individual limitations. Parental assessment of injury risk, use of strategy and perceived effectiveness were fluid processes dependent on a child's character, developmental age and the prior experiences of both parent and child. Some parents were more proactive in their approach to home safety while others only reacted if their child demonstrated an interest in a particular object or activity perceived as being an injury risk. CONCLUSION: Parents' injury prevention practices encompass a range of strategies that are fluid in line with the child's age and stage of development; however, parents report that they still find it challenging to decide which strategy to use and when.

Indicators are valuable tools used to measure progress towards a desired health outcome. Increased awareness of the public health burden due to injury has lead to a concomitant interest in monitoring the impact of national initiatives that aim to reduce the size of the burden. Several injury indicators have now been proposed. This study examines the ability of each of the suggested indicators to reflect the nature and extent of the burden of non-fatal injury. A criterion validity, population-based, prospective cohort study was conducted in Brisbane, a sub-tropical Metropolitan City on the eastern seaboard of Australia, over a 12-month period between 1 January and 31 December 1998. Neither the presence of a long bone fracture nor the need for hospitalisation for 4 or more days were sensitive or specific indicators for 'serious' or major injury as defined by the 'Gold Standard' Injury Severity Score (ISS). Subsequent analysis, using other public health outcome measures demonstrated that the major component of the illness burden of injury was in fact due to 'minor' not serious injury. However, the suggested indicators demonstrated low sensitivity and specificity for these outcomes as well. The results of the study support the need to include at least all hospitalisations in any population-based measure of injury and not attempt to simplify the indicator to a more convenient measure aimed at identifying just those cases of 'serious' injury.

This 2010-11 Summer Scholarship report prepared for the Child Injury Prevention Foundation New Zealand (CIPFNZ) focuses on the use of mouth-guards by children playing rugby in Otago. The abstract reads: "Objectives: This study was undertaken to primarily determine the frequency of ownership of mouth-guards amongst young rugby players. Information was also sought regarding the frequency of use of the mouth-guards; prevalence and aetiology of head, mouth and teeth injuries; types of mouth-guard; source of mouth-guard; attitudes towards mouth-guards and who is responsible for ensuring a child is wearing a mouth-guard. Design: Retrospective. A total of 197 questionnaires (parent/guardian and player combined) were completed (an average response rate of 27.1%). Setting: Otago, New Zealand. Participants: 800 ‘Rippa’ and ‘Junior’ rugby players and their parents/guardians. Results: 100% of the ‘Junior Rugby’ players and 82.5% of the ‘Rippa Rugby’ players claimed to own a mouth-guard with over 90% of each group owning a Type II ‘Boil-And-Bite’ mouth-guard. Mouth-guard use across all groups was higher during games than practises. Injuries were reported throughout each group although the proportion of mouth, head or tooth injuries was higher amongst the older players. Most injuries occurred during rugby games. The majority of parents/guardians and players believed it was mainly the players responsibility to wear a mouth-guard but that parents and coaches played an important role too. This study was relatively inconclusive regarding attitudes/problems with mouth-guards. Conclusions: The frequency of ownership of mouth-guards amongst this group of rugby players was very high and therefore promising but further research should aim to get a wider, more representative sample of players. Mouth-guard use amongst the ‘Rippa Rugby’ group within schools and clubs needs to be studied further to determine what the situation is and whether mouth-guard promotion/education for this group is necessary." (Two printed-out articles from the Otago Daily Times on the survey the author conducted and survey results are attached.)

The objective of this provision is to safeguard people from injury, and other property from damage, caused by construction or demolition site hazards. Construction and demolition work on buildings shall be performed in a manner that avoids the likelihood of: (a) Objects falling onto people on or off the site, (b) Objects falling on property off the site, (c) Other hazards arising on the site affecting people off the site and other property, and (d) Unauthorised entry of children to hazards on the site.

The objective of this provision is to: a) safeguard people from injury during movement into, within and out of buildings, b) safeguard people from injury resulting from the movement of vehicles into, within and out of buildings, and c) ensure people with disabilities are able to enter and carry out normal activities and functions within buildings.

The objective of this provision is to safeguard people from injury and illness caused by exposure to hazardous building materials. Building materials which are potentially hazardous, should be used in ways that avoid undue risk to people. Includes architectural glass, window glass.

The objective of this provision is to safeguard people from injury caused by falling. Buildings shall be constructed to reduce the likelihood of accidental fall.

The objective of this provision is to– (a) safeguard people from illness caused by contaminated water: (b) safeguard people from injury caused by hot water system explosion, or from contact with excessively hot water: (c) safeguard people from loss of amenity arising from– (i) a lack of hot water for personal hygiene; or (ii) water for human consumption, which is offensive in appearance, odour or taste: (d) ensure that people with disabilities are able to carry out normal activities and functions within buildings.

This glass thermometer is surrounded by a plastic frame which has printed on it: 'Danger' [at 60°C and above], 'Caution' [at 50°- 60°C], 'Take Care' [at 43°-50°C], 'Kid Safe' [at 43°C and below]. It is intended that the thermometer is used to test hot water from the tap to see whether it is at a temperature which wont burn a child.

The pamphlet gives an outline of programmes that schools can undertake to teach children water safety and guidelines for safety management strategies. The programmes include : WaterSense for years 1 and 2 ; In at the deep end for years 7 and 8 ; Rainbow system of supervision ; WaterSafe policy : guidelines for schools.

This media release gives the results of a survey of schools conducting swimming lessons and with access to a swimming pool. It also expresses concern that "the opportunity to partake in aquatic education and the level of suitable safety standards will be compromised now that the school curriculum has been changed, and priority learning areas identified."

A photocopy of the title and contents page of a study on building design criteria for reducing the risk of domestic accidents in Europe. Original held at ACC Library, Wellington and can be borrowed if required.

Booster seat laws are premised on the need to improve seat belt fit for young children to reduce their injury risk. This paper provides the first extensive examination of national crash data for children in seat belts. Using regression and other models, we found no evidence that crash-involved children ages 4–7 in lap-shoulder belts fare worse on average than similarly restrained children ages 8–13 or, in sensitivity analysis, than similarly restrained adults ages 18–34. If anything, they may fare better. The objective of this study is to examine on a national level whether shoulder-belted occupants aged 4-7 fare better or worse in crashes than shoulder-belted occupants aged 8-13 or, in sensitivity analysis, adults aged 18-34. If shoulder-belted occupants aged 4-7 fare worse, that better justifies requiring use of booster seats for these children. We could not directly evaluate booster seat effectiveness because of the lack of nationally representative data on booster seat use.

Double page feature. One story, written by mother outlines one child's accident and gives prevention strategies. Another points out risks of hot liquids. Third promotes use of smoke alarms and gives prevention strategies. Fourth promotes Burn Support Trust.

Background Child-pedestrians are more prone to fail in identifying hazardous situations. Aiming to better understand the development of hazard-perception abilities in dynamic road situations we examined participants’ hazard detection abilities in a virtual environment. Method Experienced-adult participants and child-pedestrians observed typical road crossing related scenarios from a pedestrian’s point of view and engaged in a hazard detection task. Results Consistent with our hypotheses, less instances of obscured field of view by parked vehicles were reported as hazardous by 7–9-year-olds, who were also prone to linger more in identifying situations depicting field of view partially obscured by parked vehicles compared to all other age groups. Reports of obscured field of view by road curvature as hazardous increased with age. Conclusions Understanding child-pedestrians’ shortcomings in evaluating traffic situations contribute to the effort of producing intervention techniques which may increase their attentiveness toward potential hazards and lead toward reduction in their over-involvement in crashes.

The objective of this study was to assess compliance with current standards of playgrounds where children have sustained a fall-related arm fracture. Between October 2000 and December 2002, a consecutive prospective series of 402 children aged under 13 years who fell from playground equipment and sustained an arm fracture was identified by emergency department staff in five Victorian hospitals. Trained field testers measured playground equipment height, surface type and depth, and surface impact attenuation factors to determine compliance with safety standards. The main outcome measures were playground compliance with current Australian safety standards. Results showed that 98% of playgrounds had a recommended type of surface material. The mean surface depth was 11.1 cm and the mean equipment height was 2.04m. Although over 85% of playgrounds complied with recommended maximum equipment height and surface impact attenuation characteristics, only 4.7% complied with recommended surface depth. In conclusion, playgrounds where children have sustained an arm fracture generally comply with all important safety recommendations except surface depth. Playground fall-related arm fracture requires specific countermeasures for prevention, distinct from head injury prevention guidelines.

This Viewpoint discusses the imbalance of US regulations requiring chemical flame retardants in many household and clothing items and the lack of accompanying chemical safety regulations.

Following heightened gun violence in the 1990s, many medical societies in the United States adopted policies on the topic. The objective of this study was to identify points of firearm violence policy agreement among large medical organizations. Fourteen national medical societies- clinical focus, demonstrated interest in gun injury prevention, >2000 members- were selected for policy review in 2002. Policies were categorized on areas covered and items within these. Consensus areas were addressed by >7/14 societies. Consensus items were included by >7/14 societies, shared items by 5–6. Results showed that there were five consensus areas: access prevention, gun commerce, research, public education, and clinical counseling. There were four consensus items: restricting gun access by enforcing existing laws, restricting access to all guns at the point of sale, restricting access to handguns at the point of sale, and creating a national database on gun injury and death. Shared items promote violence prevention, clinical education on risks of guns in the home, treating guns as consumer products, restricting gun access to children, bans on automatic weapons, and promoting trigger locks. In conclusion, large medical societies in the United States agree on key approaches for reducing gun injury mortality and morbidity. Future research will be needed to track the evolution of this emerging standard for physician action, which now includes the consensus areas and items. It promises to be, in effect, a medical standard of care for gun injury prevention. The United States experience may be useful to others working on gun injury prevention.

The objective of this research was to study the effectiveness of seat belts for protecting school age children in road vehicle crashes. Subjects were 470 children aged 4­-14 years, with 168 selected for detailed analysis, and 1301 adults. Main outcomes measures were use of seat belts by vehicle occupants; severity of injury adjusted for age and crash severity. Results showed that overall, 40% (189/470) of children were unbelted. Of the 335 children in cars driven by belted adults, 73 (22%) were unbelted. The odds of sustaining fatal or moderately severe injury for children in the front passenger seat was more than nine times higher for unbelted children than for belted ones and for those in the rear left seat was more than two times higher for unbelted than for belted children. The protection afforded by seat belts compared favourably with the results for adults in the same seat positions. In conclusion, seat belts helped to protect school age children from injury in road vehicle crashes. However, 40% of children were unbelted. Despite standard seat belts being designed for adults, school age children were at least as well protected as adults.

This article discusses research carried out at Lincoln University, which showed that speed cameras do not greatly reduce speed. The research showed that they reduce average speed and speed differential, both of which contribute to safer driving. But the reductions are comparatively small.

Kids in Danger (KID) is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to protecting children by improving children's product safety. This pamphlet provides further information and contact details.

BACKGROUND: Planning policy makers and practitioners are requesting clearer guidance on the 'essential' ingredients as assessed by public health researchers to ensure suburban neighbourhood environments are designed to promote active living behaviours such as walking. OBJECTIVES: To identify the combination of design requirements from the 'Liveable Neighbourhoods' (LN) planning policy in Perth, Western Australia that were optimally supportive of walking. METHODS: K-means cluster analysis identified groups of developments with homogeneous LN features from its community design (CD), movement network (MN), lot layout (LL) and public parkland (PP) elements. Walking behaviours measured using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire were compared between participants resident in the different clusters, adjusting for demographic characteristics, self-selection factors, stage of construction and scale of development. RESULTS: Compared with participants living in the referent cluster of 'poor CD and PP developments' those living in: 'MN and LL developments' had higher odds of doing any (OR = 1.74; 95 % CI = 1.22, 2.48) and =60 min walking for recreation (WR) (OR = 2.05; 1.46, 2.88); 'PP developments' had increased odds of doing any WR (OR = 3.53; 2.02, 6.17), =60 min WR (OR = 3.37; 1.98, 5.74) and any total walking (TW) (OR = 2.35; 1.36, 4.09); 'CD-MN developments' had increased odds of doing any walking for transport (WT) (OR = 2.64; 1.38, 5.06), =60 min WT (OR = 1.98; 1.09, 3.61), any TW (OR = 1.71; 1.44, 2.03), =60 min TW (OR = 1.77; 1.14, 2.76) and =150 min TW (OR = 1.47; 1.15, 1.86). CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to have empirically identified a mix of specific and distinguishing planning policy neighbourhood design requirements to optimise walking outcomes. These findings will assist in the assessment of urban plans for greenfield suburban developments designed to promote walking and physical activity.

Letter quotes from publication of the British Mental Health Foundation re overprotectiveness as a contributing factor in current signs of stress in children. Also quotes from related article in "The Independent". Implies criticism of injury prevention inititatives.

This pamphlet warns parents and caregivers about the dangers of children overdosing on paracetamol based medications (e.g. sometimes self-administered liquid medication from the fridge or bedside table). It discusses the importance of correct dose for weight of the child, the fact that there are two different strengths of medication available and the importance of storing all medicines high up, out of sight and locked away.

Speech notes.

This editorial discusses link between poverty and child injury. The author summarises the important reports in the UK and the USA which demonstrate the link between higher child injury mortality and occurrence rates with socioeconomic factors.

This issue of Child Safety Update provides parents and caregivers with safety advice in the form of a checklist focusing on children and safety around water.

A checklist/factsheet providing safety advice around different water environments for parents/caregivers of children.

Almost 40 percent of New Zealand homes have hot water that is dangerously hot, and nearly 10 percent have water so hot that burns are almost inevitable. The figures come from the just-released Household Energy End-Use Project (HEEP) report prepared by the Building Research Association of New Zealand. The HEEP research reveals several factors that contribute to dangerously hot-water in our homes. These include:; Inaccurate thermostats. Around 30 percent of thermostats on electric hot water cylinders do not deliver water at anything like the value showing on the temperature dial.; Small hot water cylinders. Many houses were originally fitted with small (30 gallon or 135 litre) cylinders that cannot deliver enough hot water at a safe temperature to meet the needs of the occupants. When these small cylinders break down, they are replaced with ‘like-for-like’ products so the problem continues.; Lack of a delivered water temperature control (‘tempering’ valve). Although these are a New Zealand Building Code requirement on all new cylinder installations, they are not mandatory on replacement cylinders. Further material, including the report Executive Summary is available on the BRANZ website http://www.branz.co.nz/main.php?page=HEEP

This two page resource provides some safety guidelines when buying toys for children: under 3 years old; ages 3 through 5; and ages 6 through 12.

A set of 4 postcards with safety messages around road safety and the dangers associated with speeding: (1) speed kills passengers (2) one in three road deaths are caused by speed (3) most speed crashes are from overtaking or loss of control (4) police issue tickets for doing over 110km/h on the open road Each postcard has a four question test on the reverse side to check your speeding habits.

A media release detailing the campaign being run in the North of the North Island in a bid to raise awareness of the dangers of open road speeding.

Pamphlet illustrates guidelines for fire safety on boats

A pamphlet that folds down to palm size about injury prevention in netball. Includes : warm-up exercises and stretching ; cool-down exercises and stretching, replacing fluids, refuelling ; treating injuries ; returning after injury and fitness test.

Pack of five pamphlets about preventing injuries. This is a follow-up to the 'Your body: Your Choice!' injury prevention kit. the pamphlets are: Have you checked your shoes?; Are your ankles prepared?; Are your knees prepared?; Do you warm up & cool down?; What you swallow matters.

This is a brief two page guide to providing a safe work environment for youngsters in a rural setting. Information and safety advice is provided under the following headings; 1) Just an accident? 2) A farm child's desire to do "grown-up" work may exceed his development and ability, 3) It's up to parents and responsible adults to keep farm kids safe, 4) Age appropriate activities can reduce the risk of accidents. a table is also provided which provides information around the characteristics, typical risks and protective measures required for the following different stages of child development; Toddler/Preschooler, Early school age (5-9), Older school age (10-13), Adolescent (13-16), and Young adult (16-18).

Colouring competition and questions about road safety

This is a pdf file printed from the DTI internet page. It provides scalds prevention advice in the form of an illustrated checklist.

The current study investigates the geographic and social differences in injury risks across living areas in a small semi-urban Swedish municipality. The study population consisted of all people living in the municipality during the years 1992-1996 (31,820, December 1996). Area comparisons were made based on data related to the municipality's 15 census districts and grouped according to the geographic location and three different social characteristics (proportion of unemployed, of low educated, or of people born outside Sweden). Injury data was gathered for the period 1992-1996 from two data sources: Sweden's National Hospital Discharge Register, and the local outpatient register. Three diagnosis groups were used: all injuries aggregated, traffic injuries and other unintentional injuries. Odds-ratios were calculated for males and females separately. There were no remarkable differences in injury risks between areas, whether compared on the basis of their geographic location or some of their socio-economic characteristics. These findings could be attributed to either a lack of sensitivity of the measures employed or the existence of a well-functioning safety promotion program in the municipality that impacts on injury risk distribution between areas. This, in turn, does not imply that members of underprivileged social groups are not in need of special support regardless of the area to which they belong.

The identification of effective strategies for the prevention of traffic related injuries is of global health importance. Area-wide traffic calming schemes that discourage through traffic on residential roads is one such strategy. The objectives of this systematic review were to evaluate the effectiveness of area-wide traffic calming in preventing traffic related crashes, injuries, and deaths. The results from this review suggest that area-wide traffic calming in towns and cities may be a promising intervention for reducing the number of road traffic injuries, and deaths. However, further rigorous evaluations of this intervention are needed.

This paper presents a meta-analysis of 33 studies that have evaluated the effects on road safety of area-wide traffic calming schemes, which are typically implemented in residential areas in towns in order to reduce the environmental and safety problems caused by road traffic. This analysis shows that area-wide urban traffic calming schemes, on the average, reduce the number of injury accidents by about 15%.

This is a pamphlet, written in Cook Island Maori, which provides some information about cot death and its prevention.

A review of child-resistant closures on medicine containers, including blister packs, in both the USA and the UK. The testing procedures for different types of closures are also discussed.

This booklet has been specially written for young road users and contains advice about keeping safe on the road.

A new study finds the level of arsenic on the surface of some specially treated outdoor wood products does not diminish over time, which means that the risk of being exposed to high levels persists for as long as two decades. Homeowners must decide how to react to the news as governmental regulators plan to withdraw the treated wood from the market within the next year.

Prompt action was taken by three retailers when it was realised a children's art set contained a cutting tool with a scalpel blade. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has recommended relabelling the sets, suitable for children aged 8 and over.;The Toy Warehouse has recalled the "Spring Pony" toy that has been sold through all stores since October 1993. The front blue plastic spring rod has, in some cased snapped during normal use.

Thirty children with upper extremity arterial trauma were retrospectively reviewed. Trauma was penetrating in 87% of cases and in 53% injury was caused by broken plate glass. The injured artery was repaired in all but four cases. Nerves were injured in 53% and tendons in 23%. All severed nerves and tendons were repaired primarily. Postoperatively three children with proximal injuries had no palpable pulse in the affected extremity. One patient died of underlying disease and another required amputation during initial surgery due to extensive soft-tissue injury. Follow-up revealed no dysfunction directly related to vascular insufficiency. Neurologic deficit was found in 33% of the children followed, but only in one was the limb totally nonfunctional. We conclude that the long-term outcome is largely dependent upon neurologic injury. Glass doors and large glass windows should be avoided in the vicinity of children's play areas.

This media release discusses the Safekids poisons study, the need for child resistant containers, the current situation regarding CRCs in NZ and the dirty dozen going into CRCs in October. It also mentions the Poisons Centre service and gives prevention strategies.