Vol. 566 No. 4
217 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Health and Children the way in which accidents that occur in the home are recorded; the number of such recorded accidents each year for 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively; the action to prevent such accidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13203/03]
The most recent and comprehensive figures available to my Department on accidents in the home emanate from the recently published second phase of the national health and lifestyle surveys. The results of these surveys outline the pattern of non-fatal accidents occurring in this country and query many areas in relation to accidents including where accidents occurred and what treatment was sought at the time of the injury. These figures have been further analysed by gender, age, socio-economic grouping and educational status, thereby providing us with an even greater information resource.
Overall, the SLÁN survey indicates that 17% of the respondents suffered some sort of injury in the past two years, which interfered with their daily activities, showing a decrease of 1% from the previous survey in 1998. Of these, 31% of the accidents occurred in the home or in the garden, indicating a sharp rise from the 18% reporting home-garden accidents in 1998. As in 1998, the home or garden was the most likely site for females across all age groups to suffer an injury.
Both the national health promotion strategy 2000 – 2005 and the health strategy Quality and Fairness outline strategic objectives in relation to contributing to the reduction in the percentage of the population affected by fatal and non-fatal injuries. The health promotion unit of my Department sees its main objective in this area as working in partnership to promote safety and injury prevention with a particular focus on fall prevention, accidents in the home and on the road and farm.
The health promotion unit is currently involved in a number of initiatives which examine the issues surrounding accident prevention and promoting safety at home. Officials from the health promotion unit represent my Department on two fire safety committees of the National Safety Council. These are multi-disciplinary committees that draw representation from the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the regional health boards and local authorities. This is in line with the ethos of the health strategy, which states that there is a need for action across many sectors in a co-ordinated, nationally focused manner.
On a more operational level, the HPU facilitates the meetings of health promotion officers with responsibility for older people, whose discussions have recently focused on fall prevention. Safety is also an issue of concern for the members of the interdepartmental group on the needs of older people, chaired by Minister of State, Mr. Ivor Callely. Key Departments represented on this group include Social, Community and Family Affairs and Environment and Local Government as well, as local authorities and health boards. In relation to young people and accident prevention, the national health promotion information project officer is currently revising and updating the child accident prevention publication "Play it Safe", with a view to providing specific information on injury prevention for three age groups.
