Errol Taylor
Deputy Chief Executive
Our Objectives and Activities
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: who we are and what we do
At the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), we promote safety and the prevention of accidents in all areas of life: at work, at leisure, on the road, in the home and through safety education, both in schools and other settings.
We are a registered charity and have been at the heart of accident prevention in the UK and around the world for more than 90 years.
RoSPA's mission and vision are fundamental in setting our priorities.
Our mission, a statement that describes our passion, our belief in our cause and our energy and commitment to improving the lives of others, is:
To save lives and reduce injuries
Our vision, which encapsulates how we work towards our mission, is:
To lead the way on accident prevention
We aim to bring about change and help others, including our much-valued members, to prevent accidents by promoting key issues and providing services which are relevant. Our varied activities include: campaigning; collecting data; carrying out research; developing policies; informing and educating, including through high quality training and leading-edge seminars and conferences; auditing and providing expert consultancy.
Deaths from accidents in the home and on the road - 15 years of ONS data for England and Wales
Investing in injury prevention pays. Road fatalities across the UK are at their lowest ever level; in 2010, they fell below 2,000 for the first time. We are immensely proud of RoSPA’s huge contribution to this achievement, seen through our many awareness-raising initiatives, campaigns for legislative change and practical resources.
And yet we know there is still more work to do. Across the UK in 2009, 13,861 people lost their lives as a result of accidents. Our desire to reduce this unacceptable figure, and its associated costs - both human and economic - is why we remain at the forefront of accident prevention. Home safety is a key area for action; the number of home accident deaths stood at more than 5,000 in 2009.
The graph to the right shows the contrasting stories of home accident and traffic accident deaths in England and Wales over 15 years and we believe this reflects the per capita investment in accident prevention. However in some areas of the UK, there is evidence of co-ordinated work reducing home accident deaths. We would like to see far more co-ordinated investment in home accident prevention across the whole of the UK.
Injuries by age and location - All Wales Injury Surveillance System
There are also millions of injuries suffered as a result of accidents and we are determined to reduce the burden that these place on families, employers, the NHS and society as a whole.
The graph to the left shows that vulnerable age groups - young children and older people - are particularly at risk in the home while young people are at risk in leisure settings, on the road and in the workplace.
Here's a snapshot of our objectives in each of the main areas of our work:
Saving lives and reducing injuries...in the home
- Ensure that home safety is included in the public health agenda
- Improve the collection, reporting and analysis of UK-wide accident data and use it to demonstrate the effectiveness of injury prevention
- Support local accident prevention partnerships
- Improve the focus on home safety by working at national and European levels
- Improve physical safety in homes and gardens
- Deliver home safety training courses
- Provide expert advice to improve the safety of consumer products and services
Saving lives and reducing injuries...on the road
- Support the development and implementation of national and local road safety strategies, the work of other professionals and practitioners in road safety
- Improve driving and motorcycling standards, including through RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders (RoADAR)
- Raise awareness and provide advice, help, training, resources and information for all road users and the general public
- Help employers manage their occupational road risk through the provision of advice, guidance, practical products and services (MORR™)
Saving lives and reducing injuries...at work
- Help small and medium-sized enterprises by cutting health and safety red tape and confusion
- Strengthen corporate leadership of health and safety
- Support local groups that provide health and safety assistance to their peers
- Increase competence by running continually-evolving and effective training courses
- Encourage continuous improvement, including through benchmarking and consultancy
- Celebrate the success of high performers
Saving lives and reducing injuries...at leisure
- Encourage the Government to improve its strategic approach to water safety
- Provide expert consultancy, audit and training
- Support and carry out pioneering research
- Promote recognition that leisure and play should be exciting and as "safe as necessary, not as safe as possible"
- Encourage the growth of evidence-based practical safety education
Saving lives and reducing injuries...by influencing and informing
- Maintain the national and international profile of accident prevention through public affairs
- Share best practice and information through events
- Enhance the RoSPA membership experience
- Promote safety and risk education from primary school to business school
Examples of how we achieved the objectives given above during 2010/11 are outlined throughout this annual review. As you find out more about what we do and why we do it, we hope you will be inspired to join us in our mission.
Errol Taylor
Deputy Chief Executive
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