Last Friday, May 28, was Fatality Free Friday (see http://www.fatalityfreefriday.com/) here in Australia. The aim of the event is Not a single road death in Australia for just one day. Just one Fatality Free Friday. The Fatality Free Friday website states: We believe that if drivers are asked to actively concentrate on road safety and safe […]
Category: Splinters & Fragments
Notes and comment on relevant papers published in any journal
Look for injury prevention ideas everywhere
Conferences – I’m a huge fan! Regular readers of the blog will know I have shared my thoughts about the benefits of conference attendance/presentation/participation etc. Today I continue my sharing by telling you about one of the best ideas I heard at the most recent conference within which I had the great fortune to participate. First, some background. […]
From evidence to policy and practice
Regular readers of the Injury Prevention blog will be quite familiar with my obsession for getting our rigorous research translated into policy and practice. I regularly hear from individuals in industry and government, not to mention the general community, that researchers are great at communicating with other researchers, and not so great at communicating with ‘normal people’. Upon hearing this […]
Poorly-fitted child seats an injury waiting to happen
Thinking about the recalls yesterday, particularly those related to child seats, reminded me of a recent story I read recently. A 2013 survey of over 10,000 child seats in England, Wales and Scotland revealed that 60% of the child seats were poorly-fitted (see http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/470156/Millions-of-infants-at-risk-60-per-cent-of-all-child-seats-not-fitted-safely). One poorly-fitted child seat is a problem, let alone 6,000 in […]
Recalls on the radar
Over the past few months I have noticed an abundance of recalls for various products, including mass recalls after ignition switch defects in General Motors cars. As noted on their website (http://www.gmignitionupdate.com/faq.html), “There is a risk, under certain conditions, that your ignition switch may move out of the “run” position, resulting in a partial loss of […]
Balcony collapse – a potential (unseen?) threat to users of all ages
Unfortunately here in Australia we have had a number of collapses of the family home balcony, and last month the casualty was a 3 month old baby boy who had been cradled in his mother’s arms moments before the fateful fall (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/death-of-baby-in-niagara-park-balcony-collapse-prompts-building-safety-warning/story-fngr8h0p-1226857651952). Such balcony collapses are by no means unique events here in Australia (e.g., http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/balcony-collapse-injures-five-people-at-nowra-in-nsw/story-e6frg6nf-1226743237328; […]
Low speed vehicle run-over incidents remain in the spotlight
PubMed abounds with articles exploring the epidemiology of low speed vehicle run-overs (e.g., doi: 10.1136/ip.2010.030304; 10.1111/jpc.12188; 10.1111/wvn.12014; 10.1136/injuryprev-2013-040932; 10.1186/1471-2458-14-245; 10.1186/1471-2458-14-245). The devastating consequences of low speed vehicle run-over incidents has led to a plethora of suggested intervention and ‘tips’ for parents and others interested in child and infant injury prevention (for example, http://www.kidsafewa.com.au/drivewaysafety.html; http://www.safekids.org.nz/index.php/page/driveway-run-over-kit-locations; http://www.keepyourchildsafe.org/child-safety-book/child-driveway-accidents.html). In addition, […]
A radical step in injury prevention – preventing table-saw injuries
After blogging “Table saw 1, Injury-free arm and hand 0” on the 20th of May last year, I have remained alert to news regarding installation of injury prevention devices on table saws. Pleasingly my father has left the building industry with all his digits and limbs intact, however other table-saw users have not fared to […]
Overcoming obstacles encountered in translating research into practice
Regular readers of the injury prevention blog will know I have commented on a number of occasions regarding the need to (1) share our research findings, and (2) translate research into practice and policy. Whilst this is the ideal, I also realise that there are many obstacles to this being the actual, another topic […]
Maintaining the momentum
Alcohol-fuelled violence continues on Australian streets – Google this topic, and pages and pages of hits will appear. You will also note in these pages that this has become an increasingly alarming issue over the years, with much public outcry in recent times. The randomness of such violence, and the magnitude and variety of injuries – […]