RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

November 5, 1998
HOME ACCIDENTS - YOUNG MUMS AND GRANS AT RISK

Help for teenage mums to improve safety in their homes will be one of the topics to be discussed at a major congress in Yorkshire, organised by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The RoSPA National Home Safety Congress will also be looking at home safety issues for children, and social issues around safety for the elderly - including safe homes and exercising for older people.

Strathclyde Fire Brigade will be speaking on the idea of fitting people’s homes with domestic sprinklers as the way ahead for fire safety during the two-day programme, which is sponsored by Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd.

The congress is entitled Reducing Inequalities in Health Through Effective Targeting and the subject has been chosen in light of the Government Green Paper Our Healthier Nation which gives accident prevention priority status.

The Society has lined up a list of distinguished speakers for the event at the Forte Posthouse, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, next week (November 9 and 10). The keynote address will be given by Jeff Ennis MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell MP, Minister of State for Public Health.

RoSPA Head of Home Safety, Sarah Colles, said: "We know that accidents are the greatest single threat to life for children and young people. And falls are a major cause of death and disability in older people. There are still many elderly people who are missed by the established welfare services.

"The essential thing is to ensure that the limited resources available for accident prevention are targeted effectively so that they achieve the maximum results. It is hard to do, but our congress will look at examples in the UK which have shown that the needs of vulnerable groups can be met."

Around a million children go to hospital each year as a results of accident in the home and 370,000 over 65s need treatment in accident and emergency departments.