RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
February 7, 2005
NORTHERN IRELAND HOME ACCIDENTS UNDER SPOTLIGHT
A conference to tackle Northern Ireland’s biggest accident problem will be held in Belfast on Wednesday (Feb 9).
The Northern Ireland Home Accident Prevention Strategy and Action Plan was published by the Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety last month with full backing from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Now RoSPA is staging the conference “Making the Strategy Work” in an effort to bring together everyone in the province willing to play a part in reducing the toll of injuries and deaths.
Each year in Northern Ireland around 75,000 people go to hospital and 70 are killed as a result of accidents in their homes. Home accidents account for 40 per cent of all accident attendance – more than double that of the road.
The event at the Park Plaza, Belfast, is free and nearly all of the 250 places have already been booked. As well as professional practitioners, the audience will include representatives from community and voluntary groups.
Janice Bisp, RoSPA Home Safety Manager for Northern Ireland, said: “We are convinced the strategy can make a major impact by cutting accidents which cause so much pain and misery throughout the province. It can make a big difference by helping to educate and train those who work with high risk groups, such as children and older people.
“The conference will look at where we are now, who is doing what and what still needs doing. It will provide a platform for sharing ideas and finding ways to achieve targets that have been set.”
The strategy gives particular emphasis to preventing falls (the most common type of accident), fires and injuries to children on farms. At least 18 children living on farms in Northern Ireland have been killed in 10 years.
RoSPA has worked with the Government for the last seven years to produce the strategy and has been instrumental in getting commitments from agencies throughout the province to pledge support.
DHSSPS is sponsoring the conference. Speakers include: Etta Campbell, Chief Medical Officer, and experts on building partnerships, training, collecting hospital data, fire safety, farm safety and falls prevention.
|
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 |
 |