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Take the proactive approach to safety

Along with Hume City, Latrobe has celebrated a community safety week or month since 1996, when both communities became accredited demonstration sites for the World Health Organisation ‘safe community’ global network.

By Latrobe City Council - 26th September 2003 - Back to News

Since that time the event and the programs to promote safety have grown and diversified to reflect the range of activities that impact upon our sense of and actual safety.

Latrobe City’s Manager Community Safety, Henk Harberts, said one central theme has always been to encourage individual action to promote safety – whether it be in the home, which is the scene of most actual injuries, whilst we‘re working, on the road or engaged in sport and recreation.

"An analysis of data collected from Latrobe Regional Hospital (1999-2001) reveals that most locals are hurt whilst at home; around 48% of all presentations. 13% of injuries take place in the workplace, 11% on the road, street or highway, and 10% while playing sport or recreation," Mr Harberts explained.

"95% of all emergency department presentations at Latrobe Regional Hospital were in relation to unintentional injury events the remaining 5% because of intentional violence, either self harm or imposed by others," he said.

Globally, in the year 2000, injury accounted for one in ten deaths. Five million people were killed, of which road crashes accounted for one and a half million, showing that road trauma is the greatest area of increased deaths especially in developing countries.

"Despite this, Australia is one of the safest countries in the world, but preventable injury still killed around 6000 people nation-wide last year. Here in Latrobe City, our road trauma deaths ‘jumped’ from one to eleven between 2001 and 2002," Mr Harberts said.

"Apart from greater law enforcement, responsibility lies with us all as residents, families and community to make safety a consideration in all that we do, whether living, playing, working or learning. Taking proactive steps to safety ensures wellbeing for all," Mr Harberts added.


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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