RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
November 1, 2006
SHARING SUCCESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HOME INJURIES
Preventing home injuries that send around 2.8 million people to hospital in the UK each year will be discussed at next week’s RoSPA National Home Safety Congress.
Accidental injuries to children at home, which result in around a million A&E visits each year, will be a particular focus of the event.
Burns and scalds, falls from height, poisoning, choking and strangulation often lead to tragic headlines, but less is heard of the successful home safety projects being delivered across the country to prevent such incidents.
Speakers at the congress, which takes place on Monday and Tuesday (November 6 and 7) at Harrogate’s Majestic Hotel, will share their stories of success with other home safety practitioners from both national and local initiatives.
Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield, who is behind the “Hot Water Burns Like Fire” campaign, will give the keynote address. RoSPA is supporting the campaign, which calls for Thermostatic Mixing Valves to be fitted in bathrooms in all new and refurbished homes.
Other speakers include Carolyn Cripps, OBE, Director of the Children’s Fire and Burn Trust, and Emma McCarthy, Director of the Electrical Safety Council.
Ten years of the LASER scheme (Learning About Safety by Experiencing Risk) will be celebrated, and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust will explain how it has cut children’s accidents by 21 per cent.
The RoSPA congress, in association with the Electrical Safety Council, comes three weeks before this year’s European-wide home safety campaign. Co-ordinated by the European Child Safety Alliance, the campaign will be launched on November 30 to raise awareness of and cut injuries among children at home.
Dawn Dcaccia, RoSPA Head of Home Safety, said: “Accidental injuries are a major health issue throughout the UK. They are the commonest cause of death in children over one year of age and every year they leave many thousands of other children permanently disabled or disfigured.
“It is important to remember that home injuries do not just affect children. We are still faced with the appalling statistics that ten people in total die as a result of a home accident in the UK each day and 8,000 seek medical treatment. The most vulnerable are the very young and the very old, particularly those who are socially disadvantaged.
“We hope this congress will encourage more people to take up the challenge of reducing injuries at home.”
Visit www.rospa.com/home/ for more information.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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