RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
July 27, 1998
NEW "THINK TANK" TO FIGHT HOME ACCIDENTS
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has set up a top level "think tank" to combat the worrying number of home accidents revealed in a new government report.
The Department of Trade and Industry’s Home Accident Surveillance System report shows that 10 people are killed and 7,000 need medical treatment every day after home accidents.
RoSPA has launched a national strategy to reduce accidents in the home which it says are a "hidden epidemic".
A strategy development group has been formed consisting of representatives from Age Concern England, The Child Accident Prevention Trust, The Department of Health, ICE Ergonomics, The Institute of Home Safety, RoSPA’s National Home and Leisure Safety Committee and the Department of Trade and Industry.
RoSPA Head of Home Safety, Sarah Colles, said: "RoSPA has taken the lead in this, but if it is to work it must be looked upon as everyone’s strategy. The development group will prioritise recommendations, particularly on training, which can be carried forward immediately.
"Between us we come into contact with most of the professional groups with a responsibility for home safety."
She said RoSPA was delighted the Government was taking the problem so seriously and that it had a number of initiatives planned.
"Sadly, home accidents have not been given a high enough profile in the past, and we are determined everything possible will be done to wipe out what we see as a ‘hidden epidemic’," she said.
"A survey we carried out last year showed that only 22 per cent of adults had a rough idea of how many people die in home accidents and only eight per cent were aware of the number of injuries."
