Child Safety Education Coalition

Reducing unintended injuries

• About CSEC
• Road traffic injuries
• Drownings
• Poisonings
• Burns and scalds
• Trips and falls

• What is practical safety education?
  • Managing everyday risks
  • The Five Rs
  • The Ten Principles
  • Defining Practical Safety Education
  • Unintended injuries
• Children and safety education
  • Fact or fiction?
  • Actual requirements
• Schools and safety education
• Groups, clubs and safety education
• Me and safety education
• Resources, publications and links
• News, events and projects

What are unintended injuries?

Unintended injuries are injuries which happen which were not meant, and they are a leading cause of death and serious injury among children aged 0 to 14 in the UK. These can have a devastating effect on a child’s quality of life, and that of those around them.

In 2005, 250 children died as a result of unintended injuries, with almost half of these being due to road traffic incidents. This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg, as they were also responsible for approximately 101,000 hospital admissions in England in 2005/6.*

The World Health Organisation (WHO) European region has calculated that for every child death, there are approximately 129 other child hospital admissions with serious injuries, 1635 other emergency department visits, and an even greater number of GP visits or self treatment.**

WHO Europe also identifies the following as the main causes of unintended injury to children:

• Road Traffic Injuries
  
• Drowning
  
• Poisoning
  
• Burns and Scalds
  
• Trips and Falls

These injuries are happening in everyday situations, on or by the roads, at home, school and play, and many could be prevented.

Some children are more vulnerable than others. According to the Department for transport, children from Social Class V are five times more likely to die as pedestrians in a road accident than children from Social Class I, and similar trends can also be seen for other injury areas.

More information can be found in the following reports:

WHO ‘European report on child injury prevention’ 2008 ( PDF 4.61mb)
WHO ‘World report on child injury prevention’ 2008 ( PDF 3.39mb)
Child friendly versions of WHO world report 2008

* Source: 'A Children’s Environment and Health Strategy for the United Kingdom - Consultation Document' - The Health Protection Agency, March 2008.

** Source: WHO 'European report on child injury prevention 2008'