Injuries are Not Accidents
Submitted by CAPT Nancy Bill
Tragically injuries can take a devastating toll on individuals, families and communities. The economic impact is wide spread throughout from the injured to the medical and social cost. The positive news with increase understanding of how to prevent injuries we can be proactive to take action.
Over the years of injury research report effective strategies can be applied to many aspects of our lives to increase safety at home, workplace, school, in traffic and disaster preparedness. The following are a few tips on safety measures we all can apply to our daily living environment.
Home
Ensure working smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors is installed appropriately throughout your home. Turn hot water temperature to 120 to prevent scald burns. Remove tripping hazards and know the products in your home that are poisons. These are a few tips. A more comprehensive safety checklist is available at http://homesafetycouncil.com/SafetyGuide/sg_checklistbuild_w001.asp.
Work
Educate employees about workplace regulations and train employees to recognize unsafe or unhealthy settings. Create an employee reporting system to allow workers to report hazardous working conditions. Create safe work environments by identifying and fixing workplace hazards such as unstable surfaces and malfunctioning vehicles. Conduct personal safety training programs that teach employees how to recognize, avoid or diffuse potentially violent workplace situations.
School
Attend school meetings or forums to advocate for a safe-free environment in playgrounds, traffic, fire and bullying prevention. Visit http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/ for more information on bullying prevention.
Traffic
Traffic fatalities are a leading cause of disability injuries and fatalities. Seat belt should be part your daily driving routine. If you have children the appropriate child safety seat device in essential. Other information factors are impaired and distractive driving. More information on traffic safety is available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/
Disaster preparedness
The area of disaster preparedness is quickly becoming an area of emerging concern. Planning for a national disaster is not one many take action on until one strikes. Making a basis plan with the family will help to start discussions to figure best approaches for your family. For more information, visit http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm.
These are a few tips on how we all can take steps to prevent injuries. Be informed and take action to keeping you and your family safe. As we improve our safety we will make an impact on the overall nation’s health. Please visit http://www.nphw.org/nphw11/toolkit.htm for more details on the 2011 National Public Health week.
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HHS, Office of Public Health and Science |