When it came to organising our annual charity golf day, we decided to choose RoSPA as our nominated charity, because we had worked together on various projects over the last 12 months.
The APIL team prepare to tee off at their RoSPA fundraiser.
Taking place on the famous Ryder Cup Course at the Celtic Manor Resort, we, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers(APIL) were pleased to host a fully subscribed charity golf day with 22 teams battling to win one of the 17 trophies on offer.
After a shotgun start, the golfers took to the Twenty Ten Course and despite the treacherous winds (and the worse golfing weather ever recorded at an APIL charity golf day), the golfers slowly returned to the members’ lounge, after an enjoyable, yet pretty tiring day out!
The golfers got their breath back over fish and chips and a drink from the bar, just in time for the presentation of prizes, where players gave a warm welcome to RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser Roger Bibbings MBE, who said a few words on behalf of the charity. APIL’s business support manager Ted Parsons presented the trophies, where we saw the Search Legal team wipe the floor, winning the team Stableford trophy and the individual Stableford trophies for first and second place! Other winners included Argent Rehabilitation, Compass Law, the Wyvern Partnership and ARAG.
APIL is thrilled to be able to donate the sum of £1,500 to RoSPA, with funding from the golf day sponsors Compass Law. In addition to this, the photographer from the day Phil Hynds is also kindly donating 20 per cent of his takings.
“Putting” into the lead at the Charity Golf Day were the Search Legal team, from left, Andrew Haldenby, Andrew Twambley, Iain Cherry and Alan Nesbit.
Congratulations to all the winners:
Team winner:Search Legal
Team 2nd place:Compass Law (1st team)
Team 3rd place:Argent Rehabilitation (1st team)
Individual winner:Iain Cherry (playing on behalf of Search Legal)
Individual 2nd place:Andrew Haldenby (playing on behalf of Search Legal)
Individual 3rd place:Gareth Crosbie (playing on behalf of Argent Rehabilitation)
Longest drive:Nick Paget (playing on behalf of the Wyvern Partnership)
Nearest the pin:Dave Haynes (playing on behalf of ARAG)
Kathryn Scott, APIL’s events and marketing officer
Did you know that RoSPA has been at the heart of accident prevention in the UK and around the world for almost 100 years? Are you interested in donating to help us fulfil our mission “to save lives and reduce injuries”? Visit www.rospa.com/about/donate/.
Winter is finally over (allegedly) and even the sun is threatening to make an appearance. This must mean only one thing – car boot sale season is about to start!
Many people pick up household tools and equipment cheaply at car boot sales, from hammers and drills through to ladders and lawnmowers. Whilst there are some real bargains to be had, the important thing to remember is that a private sale may mean less protection in terms of the safety of products.
Tools and other equipment are typically sold either when they cease to work or have been replaced. As there is often no way of trying out electrical equipment at a car boot sale, you should be wary that electrical appliances may not work at all, or are unsafe.
Things to look out for are frayed cords, missing plugs and noticeable damage to the product. In every case, if in doubt go without.
Non-electrical goods can also be dangerous, as consistent use over the years can make them weakened and no longer safe. Step ladders are a good example and in every case it is a good idea to see if the instructions for use and warnings are available for the product from the seller. They probably won’t be, but these days you can always whip out your smartphone and see if they are downloadable from the internet.
You may be reading this and thinking “why would you need warnings for a step ladder?” but weight ratings are very important and exceeding safe weights on ladders and step ladders leads to hundreds of accidents each year.
Of course, it is not just tools that can be picked up cheaply, other household products such as irons, hair straighteners and kettles can all be bought for next to nothing. Again, look for evidence of frayed cords, make sure the plugs are attached and as far as possible look for signs of visible damage.
Remember, whilst you may be buying the product for 30 per cent of its retail price you will be entitled to a 0 per cent refund if it is faulty and you have purchased it from a private individual.
Always check for a CE mark on second-hand toys
We at RoSPA know that any savings you do make will be instantly swallowed up by your children that you take with you to the sale – from hot dogs to bouncy castles to ice creams they will no doubt have the most fun while you are there!
They will also no doubt return home with carrier bags full of cheap toys, which they have masterfully persuaded you that they need.
When buying second-hand toys always look out for the CE mark and don’t buy any toy that hasn’t got this.
Check out the structural integrity of the toy. Some are broken inside but many are okay because the child has simply grown out of them and the parent wants more space.
Remember to wash cuddly toys in hot water before letting your children play with them though as this should kill the inevitable germs that build up on them.
RoSPA’s product safety adviser, Phil Le Shirley.
Finally, new parents often rely on car boot sales to kit out their nurseries, and why not? Babies grow out of cots, clothes and toys very quickly and there are bargains to be had. Just be aware that child car seats are one of the few products (alongside protective helmets) that RoSPA advises against buying second-hand, whether from a car boot sale, charity shop or internet auction site, because it is usually impossible to tell if it has been in a crash - and if it has it should never be used again.
I hope that this helps to inform your choices at car boot sales and there is more detailed information at RoSPA’s guide to buying second-hand goods.
They are brilliant fun with loads of bargains to be had. Please enjoy them, stay safe, and I will see you there!
Having booked a skiing holiday for the first time in 10 years, I started to wonder what has changed since I last flexed my supple limbs on the slopes (apart from the suppleness of the limbs themselves) and it became clear that ski helmets are now quite common and a consideration. A natural reaction might be to think that the RoSPA CEO would immediately decide to wear one (it is an inevitable implication of this job that I don’t want to set a bad example), but it’s not quite as simple as that.
RoSPA’s chief executive Tom Mullarkey on the Olympic downhill run in Axamer-Lizum, Austria.
At RoSPA, we invite people to make informed and reasoned safety decisions, we believe that ‘life should be as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible’ and we extol the virtues of a ‘risk assessment’ (jargon for thinking the issues through) – so we should ourselves take a measured and balanced perspective. And if there’s no need to wear a helmet, it would be daft to do so. But I don’t want to set a bad example there either.
Let’s look at the evidence ‘for’ wearing a helmet. According to various sources, around 5,000 people suffered a ‘serious’ head injury on the ski slopes in France last year. In Austria, it was estimated that around 150 people (per week during the skiing season) needed hospital attention and in the same country, 27 people have died this season in skiing accidents. What constitutes ‘serious’ was one unanswered question. Whether they were or were not wearing a helmet (and indeed what protection it provided), were missing pieces of the jigsaw.
Tellingly, in many countries (including Austria where we went), it is now compulsory for children to wear a helmet and doing a straw poll around the office, it seems that most snowboarders have opted in too. So even if the safety case for a helmet isn’t clear, people are translating the perceived risk into a decision to put one on. A trawl of web advice suggests that professionals such as ski patrols, ski schools etc are generally encouraging the wearing of a helmet (they would inevitably see the consequences of not wearing one more often than the rest of us) and if you’re going to wear one for riding a horse, a bike, rock-climbing, kayaking etc, the potential for head injuries whilst skiing are every bit as high. The friends we were going with, who are not in the safety business, had already acquired theirs and this created a bit of peer pressure. And if you’ve ever seen me skiing… well, I’m at least as dangerous to myself as any snowboarder (snowboarders – please don’t write in).
Skiers wearing helmets in the Axamer Lizum Funicular Railway, Austria.
On the evidence ‘against’, the clarity is not there either. There’s no compulsion to wear a helmet (although at least one insurer requires it) and it’s also hard to know what value a helmet might bring to you in a collision. Like any head protection, it will probably reduce the severity of an injury up to a certain point. If you hit a tree when going flat out, you may well suffer a serious head injury every bit as drastic as if you were not wearing one.
There is also the question of reduced visibility/hearing which might make you less safe. There are practical issues like carrying the helmet out on the plane (although it is possible to rent one in most resorts, if you don’t mind the sweaty liner). And, of course, there is the cost. A low-end helmet costs around £15-£20 but the high end is £60-£200, not inconsiderable for something you might not wear again for another 10 years! But skiing is an expensive business and when a lift-pass costs €150-€250 for the week, and renting the skis and boots in the region of €100-€200, the price of a helmet is ultimately not that significant.
Making the judgement entailed a bit more research. There are, I discovered, three standards for ski helmets: CEN1077 (EU variant), ASTM F2040 (US) or arguably the more stringent Snell RS-98. The precise construction and testing regimes of these standards are mind-boggling and overly complex (not really surprising – that’s why we have standards as a shorthand), but having given about as much time to this issue as I willingly would (30 minutes on the web), I decided to treat them all the same. That opened up the whole price range and this, I think, made the decision a bit easier.
Balancing up the pros and cons of any safety decision is a matter of taste – how much risk is tolerable. In truth, I was conditioned some years ago in Courchevel by seeing an air ambulance coming in to take away a woman who had been hit by a metal roller from an overhead lift wire. Remembering the bloodstained snow all around her head pretty much made the decision for me: a helmet might not save your life or prevent a massive trauma in the worst circumstances, but it will be likely to reduce the effect of a head injury in most others. I don’t know what my family would think if I had to spend time in a brain injury unit, when the alternative was within easy reach and I just hadn’t used it for some perverse reason. A ski helmet is probably like shin pads. You might not need them very often, but when you do, you’re glad that you had them.
And so my wife and I bought our ski helmets (CEN 1077) for £25 each in the end-of-season sale on the night before departure…
“I am persuaded that wearing a ski helmet is a good move, a step forward in personal protection, with people taking responsibility for their own safety…” – Tom Mullarkey.
In Austria, we were amazed to find that most people were wearing a helmet – perhaps 80-90 per cent. They could be rented from the ski shop for €15 for the week (but these helmets did not pass the ‘sniff test’) and when I asked the owner of the shop for her thoughts, she said that nearly everyone wears a helmet these days, particularly the locals. Her theory was that modern ‘carver’ skis can flip a skier head-over-heels down the slope much more easily than the longer, straighter ones of yesteryear and this has caused more head injuries, an antidote to which is the helmet. Be that as it may, it is now clear that if there is a clash of heads on the slopes, the person without the helmet will come off worst – perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy? I do wonder whether once the majority have chosen to wear one, the minority are forced to conform, just to protect themselves.
I am persuaded that wearing a ski helmet is a good move, a step forward in personal protection, with people taking responsibility for their own safety, rather than just relying on chance, the prompt arrival of the ‘bloodwagon’ and their health insurance.
But these considerations aside, snow conditions were perfect, the weather was superb and if anything, a 10-year gap has made the whole thing a bit less of a competition and a little more about style and relaxation. It’s like riding a bike – you don’t forget how to do it. Oh, and you wear a helmet!
Former Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard is putting the hazards of country roads in pole position by fronting a new awareness campaign in Scotland.
You may have seen David in the informative and thought-provoking television advert circulating online or, in Scotland, during the half-time commercial break of the Manchester United v Real Madrid UEFA Champions League clash at the beginning of March. If not, you can watch the Country Roads: Don’t Risk It campaign video here:
It’s already received a lot of positive feedback and the message is clearly getting out there thanks also to support from promotions on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, along with a cinema game. In fact, the advert reached at least 250,000 David Coulthard fans alone within hours of its launch when the Scottish driver tweeted it – emphasising the impact that social media can make on reaching a wider audience.
Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard fronts the new Country Roads safety campaign.
But what most people don’t realise is the hard work and planning that goes on behind the scenes for a major road safety project like this.
Road Safety Scotland (RSS), which is part of the Scottish Government, has a publicity sub-committee, which regularly meets to discuss campaigns and which resources to use. As a road safety officer, I have had the privilege of representing the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Scotland on that committee for a number of years, and was involved with this latest Country Roads campaign.
It has been a pleasure to be a member of the committee at the inception of this advert last autumn, but staying quiet about which celebrity was involved has been quite a challenge, particularly when interrogated by my colleagues! David Coulthard is from a rural part of south west Scotland and was very keen to support this campaign.
Seven out of ten road fatalities in Scotland occur on country roads (three quarters of these are men and a third are drivers aged 17 to 25), and there are over 1,000 deaths and serious injuries a year. So, it was decided that the emphasis of this promotion would be on inappropriate speed for the conditions and primarily aimed at men aged between 22 and 40.
My colleagues on the committee – representatives from groups such as IRSO, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), along with nominated road safety officers from across Scotland – benefit tremendously from the expertise of The Scottish Government’s strategic marketing unit. This unit carried out extensive research on potential scripts and even the value of using David Coulthard, finding out that the target audience would be more receptive to the key message coming from the legendary racing driver as he was seen as a mentor, credible and trustworthy. It is a tremendously creative advert and has been really well researched, using David Coulthard to show rather than tell the audience how to drive.
At this year’s RoSPA’s Road Safety Seminar in Birmingham, Katherine Goodwin, senior strategic marketing manager on the Country Roads project, provided further insight into the campaign and the associated use of social media.
Katherine highlighted how shock tactics and graphics don’t work anymore, adding that people were more likely to change their driving behaviour if they came to a conclusion by themselves in a “lightbulb moment”.
An extensive social marketing media plan was drawn up under the “Don’t Risk It” banner, and included extra features such as behind-the-scenes footage with David Coulthard and his top driving tips. Meanwhile on Twitter, the hashtag #dontriskit was set up and 200 opinion leaders and bodies were targeted to help spread news of the campaign.
Katherine explained that RSS had been at the forefront of using social marketing to promote road safety messages, particularly when trying to inform the hard-to-reach audience of men aged 17 to 21.
A previous campaign to highlight the danger of being distracted by a mobile phone while driving saw Scotland’s first live cinema advertisement come to fruition in 2012 for YouTube, which you can view below:
This hard-hitting video resulted in over 30,000 views and over 2,000 Facebook likes. As a result, Katherine said surveys showed that 82 per cent of people were motivated to change their behaviour and an estimated 36 accidents were prevented, saving over £5million.
Child car seat manufacturer Britax, which sponsored last week’s RoSPA Road Safety Seminar, has also used social media to educate parents. During the seminar, Britax’s technical support manager Mark Bennett said research showed mothers were spending 35 per cent more time online than the general population and were becoming ever more reliant on social media. In light of that, Britax is using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and bloggers (nicknamed mumbassadors) to communicate with parents.
In 2009, Britax ensured all its seats used harness technologies, similar to that used by rally drivers, to securely hold a child in their seat instead of a shield system. The company has been keen to promote harness technology and the difference it makes, and social media has been a useful outlet for this purpose. Bosses even invested recently in doodle and animation experts to develop a new Five Point Harness video for YouTube, which you can watch here:
It was obvious from many of the speeches at this year’s seminar that social media and social marketing are important communication tools as part of wider public relations campaigns. Delegates were even tweeting throughout the day.
Some of the tweets included:
Peter Cleary @PeteCleary @RoSPA thanks for a superb, thought provoking and informative conference today on a wide range of road safety issues. Most helpful.
Matt Staton @StatonMatt Very interesting overview of social media by Alex Talbot at @RoSPA conference – love the sliding scale of engagement diagram
Michael Bishop @MishBop Lots of my interests in one RT – “@RoSPA #RoadSafety role of #socialmedia in making roads safer http://bit.ly/16aEj3o ” @MDrivingTips
Social media consultant Alex Talbott, from attdigital, offered enlightening advice to delegates warning that social media was a powerful tool, but only “one tool in your armoury” that takes a lot of time to get right. He also urged road safety experts not to fall into the trap of thinking social media was “a young person’s game” that only spoke to young people.
Importantly, Alex pointed out that with most libel cases in the UK now arising from Twitter, as a general rule, “if you wouldn’t say something in the canteen at work, don’t say it on social media”, but if in doubt, read up further information on the topic, such as the BBC Guide to Twitter and the Law.
Kathleen Braidwood, RoSPA road safety officer for Scotland.
Equipping children with the skills and experience they need to keep themselves and others safe is of a real benefit to society as a whole.
Providing a warm welcome at the LASER Alliance Annual Conference, from left, DangerPoint staff, Isobel Smith, Julie Evans, Cat Harvey and Hazel Firth with LASER Alliance co-ordinator Cassius Francis (centre).
This was a viewpoint shared by safety education professionals who gathered recently at the LASER Alliance Annual Conference, held at DangerPoint interactive activity centre in north Wales.
The LASER Alliance, hosted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and sponsored by the Gas Safety Trust, brings together a range of UK-based organisations and individuals that believe in children and young people “learning about safety by experiencing risk” (from where the acronym “LASER” is drawn).
DangerPoint proved to be the perfect setting for the event, which this year focused on issues relating to high quality practical safety education (HQPSE). HQPSE seeks to deepen children’s knowledge and understanding of risk competence and to develop skills appropriate to their age.
The centre presents children with a variety of safety scenarios in which they are required to actively “seek out” the best way of dealing with a situation and share their findings with their peers.
During a tour organised by centre staff on the day of the conference, delegates were given the chance to learn more about safety and risk from a child’s point of view in the following scenarios: in the home; on the bus; on the train; on the farm; in the countryside; at the beach; on the road. Areas of the centre are also dedicated to the topics of drugs, bullying, digital safety, shop safety, and electricity safety.
The beach safety learning zone was shown to delegates during a tour of DangerPoint.
There were plenty of engaging and interactive games to grab your attention, from learning how to cross the road at a dummy traffic crossing to remembering how to stay alert in and around water. Each zone is designed to help educate the community in essential life skills and a group of highly trained rangers are on hand to engage with visitors, some of whom are bilingual.
Also adding a splash of colour to the day were pupils from Middlewich High School, in Cheshire, who gave a lively performance on how to stay safe on the internet, with help and guidance from Konflux Theatre. Their “Click Safe” internet drama revealed the potential pitfalls of striking up online friendships with strangers and guided the audience through a checklist of what to do if they are being bullied online. Delegates were hooked by the pupils’ thought-provoking messages which they displayed through drama and the group received a round of applause at the close.
Meanwhile, young people from the Salford Foundation ran a workshop on a project they helped to organise through the National Citizen Service, aimed at delivering safety messages to older people in their community. The group revealed their reasons for joining the NCS, from building up their confidence to becoming more mature and learning how to work with other people. One 17-year-old boy said that delivering a presentation to the older community using RoSPA as a source of the safety messages had not only been beneficial, but had also helped to break the perception of teenagers having a “bad reputation”.
Pupils from Middlewich High School perform their “Click Safe” internet drama.
A variety of workshops were held throughout the day, each of which was designed to share best practice and encourage lively discussion. Leading the workshops were safety education professionals from RoSPA, DangerPoint, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, DRS Safety and Brockenhurst College. Guest speeches were also given by RoSPA’s deputy chief executive Errol Taylor on public health and HQPSE and Marcus Bailie, head of inspection at the Adventure Activities Licensing Service(AALS), on adventure, young people and HQPSE.
Some interesting topics were raised; including RoSPA’s uncovering of fresh evidence surrounding “years of life lost” – a measure of premature mortality – and the importance of encouraging children and young people to identify hazards early on through participating in adventure activities.
The LASER Alliance aims to lead the way in practical safety education and it is through being “hands on” that we hope children and young people will be able to feel confident enough in themselves to know what is and isn’t a safe decision; think about the benefits of risk taking as well as the harms; say when they feel unsafe; and demonstrate their ability to keep themselves and others as safe as necessary no matter where they may be.
Cassius Francis, LASER Alliance co-ordinator and RoSPA’s youth liaison worker
How many of you own a mobility scooter? RoSPA believes that outdoor mobility scooters fulfil a valuable and important function. However, as with all forms of transport, using mobility scooters create some risk, for both the users and for other people. We occasionally receive calls from people concerned about being nearly knocked down by mobility scooters in the street, and although these calls are relatively low in number, they do occur regularly.
RoSPA believes that outdoor mobility scooters fulfil a valuable and important function. However, as with all forms of transport, using mobility scooters create some risk, for both the users and for other people.
There is little hard evidence about the extent of accidents and injuries involving outdoor mobility scooters, beyond occasional reports, and this makes it difficult to identify the most effective ways at preventing mobility scooter accidents. The Government recently committed to collecting more data and this is welcomed, as it will help to develop current initiatives to be more effective at preventing mobility scooter-related injuries and accidents.
We spoke to 87-year-old Dennis Brooks, who got in touch to share his experience of using indoor mobility scooters. This is his story:
“With the growing preponderance of elderly people in our population today, I would imagine statistics would show a matching increase in the number of accidents in the home.
Certainly I, an 87-year-old semi-invalid, now recognise the necessity for greater mental awareness in simple manoeuvres such as getting up from a chair, but many of us have also to consider various illnesses such as diabetes which can affect one’s balance or other abilities.
In recent years, this coming to terms with an ageing body has been accompanied with a desire to compensate: if I can’t move like I used to, let’s find some form of transport. And while we’re at it lets have some fun.
There are a wide range of scooters available today and the market is of course growing, especially in the second-hand section! I chose a lightweight model which enables me to get around the house as well as the garden and can be dismantled into four sections which can fit in the car boot. It cost £400 second-hand when new models were around £1,400. Today, I see it is available at £400 new. From the safety viewpoint, the first priority is to recognise that scooters, especially the lighter, nippier ones are more like a motorcycle to ride than a car: you have to be aware of your bodyweight, and there are no brakes, unless you have a class III which can be driven on the road under license, but those are not so suitable for home use.
Scooters are battery driven, and there is a very noticeable difference in handling them when the battery is freshly charged. The torque in the driving wheels can be quite surprising so that an unthinking driver might feel he’s had a good push in the back. This dissipates after a while, but it’s in a very dangerous state. More important I feel is the design of the forward/reverse controls. Looking along the handlebars from the side view of my scooter, these controls are around the ‘five o’clock’ position immediately in front of the user. When I want to reach a cupboard on the wall say, I sometimes stand up on the platform of my mobility scooter and l have been in a position many times when my clothing has touched the forward control. Yes, yes, of course. I should have switched off the controls, but as many people keep telling me: “You’re getting on a bit now, your memory’s going!” True. Which is why I feel the designers should take another look at this.”
Some guidance from our public health adviser Sheila Merrill:
It is important that professional advice is sought before buying any type of mobility scooter. If you intend to use an indoor mobility scooter, look around your home beforehand to make sure that you have the room to move around on it safely and that it will not be blocking any obvious escape routes. Walkways and main movement areas will need to be kept clear of clutter, it may also be best to remove rugs to allow for easier movement.
Some of the most attractive spots in the country are inland water sites – canals, lakes and reservoirs that naturally draw thousands of holidaymakers, sports enthusiasts and families to their shores.
“There are around 250 inland water-related deaths a year in the UK. This is a tragic reminder for families and communities and the question of responsibility remains a key issue and is still having a significant impact on our collective ability to manage these risks ” – David Walker.
Their beauty, however, is marred by a stagnant annual death toll of around 250 water-related deaths a year, which remain a tragic reminder for families and communities.
Central to this is the question of responsibility for water safety, particularly along inland waters, which has long been a key issue. One aspect of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) campaign to manage these sites appropriately, has been the development of the aptly named guidance document, Safety at Inland Waters.
Since the first edition of the guidance, a lot has changed in the way we approach managing these sites and what users deem appropriate. In particular, open water swimming and triathlon type events have grown in popularity. Many open water spaces have been transformed from primarily “working docks” environments to leisure and retail facilities which include bars and shops, which are often a tourist attraction in their own right.
Public expectations have changed, and this is reflected in the civil landscape which to some extent has changed in the wake of the Darby v National Trust and Tomlinson V Congleton judgements. These, and subsequent judgements, have signalled a move away from overly paternalistic approaches, demonstrating an increasingly tolerant attitude towards public risk management from the higher courts.
On the operational and resilience front, we have seen some good improvements, not least in the enhanced and co-ordinated capacity to respond to flood and acute rescue scenarios through the work of DEFRA, DCLG on the Team Typing project and, latterly, by Scottish Resilience following the Tomkins Review in acute rescue. The wider use of Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) schemes has offered managers and developers opportunities for creating new, interesting and environmentally friendly public spaces, along with the associated challenges of managing them.
There has also been a step change in data capture and our understanding of the risks through the National Water Safety Forum’s Water Incident Database (WAID).
So, where does this leave us at the start of 2013?
Unfortunately, we still see an often piecemeal approach to managing inlands sites, and the question of responsibility is still having a significant impact on our collective ability to manage these risks.
Although, the view from higher courts has, in the main, underlined personal responsibility and promoted the right to take risks, and protect landowners with good management arrangements in place. Wider perceptions may not have caught up. We still, unfortunately all too often, come across the opinion that “elf ‘n’ safety says no”.
This is part of a wider debate, but we have supported the work that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has done in this and aligned areas, particularly the statements on children’s play and their approach to enforcement of leisure risks. However, there is still a long way to go with this, and others need to step into the debate before there is a step change.
On a practical level, we are involved or leading a number of projects which address this issue.
RoSPA has recently supported the British Mountaineering Council’s work addressing concerns arising from occupiers’ liability, and will continue to work with landowners, sports governing bodies, leading insurance providers and groups to tackle the misconceptions. While in its role as executive support to the National Water Safety Forum, RoSPA will be looking at how more organisations can become involved and help contribute both to WAID and the range of issues that need to be overcome.
Our inland risk analysis is also being updated and will contribute to a wider national analysis in the spring. This is underpinned by the RoSPA BNFL scholarship scheme.
A key project is the re-draft of Safety at Inland Water sites, which will run for the majority of the year.
So there is plenty going on in 2013, hopefully this will all come together to finally start addressing that stubborn, relentless toll of deaths at our inland water sites.
For more information on the projects mentioned above, you can contact me or the department at leisurehelp@rospa.com.
WordPress.com has prepared a 2012 annual report for our blog!
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 34,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals
Food, glorious food – that’s what Christmas and New Year means for a lot of people.
Roast dinner with all the trimmings, Christmas pud with brandy sauce, piping hot mince pies, sherry trifle and mini sausage rolls. My mouth is watering already.
“Keep children and anyone not helping with the cooking out of the kitchen as much as possible, especially when saucepans are bubbling with hot water and sizzling hot meat is being lifted out of the oven” – Sheila Merrill.
While this gives families, including those budding Heston Blumenthals, a chance to really dabble with their culinary skills, it is also a time to remember that the kitchen is a hotbed of hidden dangers, particularly when hordes of relatives and friends come together.
My advice is to keep children and anyone not helping with the cooking out of the kitchen as much as possible, especially when saucepans are bubbling with hot water and sizzling hot meat is being lifted out of the oven. Spitting hot oil and boiling water can scald, so always use a cooker’s back rings or hotplates first and position pan handles so they can’t be pulled over.
More worryingly, people often forget that a large turkey is incredibly heavy and can easily be dropped into the path of excited youngsters peeping out from between your legs.
It also helps to see a busy kitchen from the eyes of a child. Get down to their line of vision if necessary and look up at the surfaces where hot drinks, wine glasses and knives are often left precariously teetering on the edge and in touching distance of little hands that instinctively want to grab hold. That’s not a great prospect when you realise that a hot drink can scald a small child up to 15 minutes after it has been made.
Give yourself plenty of time to prepare and cook Christmas and New Year feasts and wipe up any spills on the floor quickly to avoid accidents involving hot fat, boiling water and sharp knives that too often come from rushing around.
Have a safe and happy Christmas.
Mark Cashin, chair of the Chief Fire Officers Association’s National Home Safety Committee, was telling me how the majority of house fires start in the kitchen. He added that there were more fire hazards in the home at Christmas than at any other time of year.
Mark’s advice is to make sure the cooker is clean and clear of debris that gets strewn around when creating a gastronomic masterpiece, like tea towels, packaging and paper towels, which can easily catch fire. And however busy things get, never leave the cooking unattended.
And without sounding too much of a killjoy, if the bubbly starts flowing early, it would be best if the chef could avoid drinking too much alcohol while cooking to avoid unnecessary accidents.
Hopefully that gives plenty of food for thought, but as I tuck into my turkey and trimmings, all that’s left to say is have a happy, safe and delicious Christmas holiday.
Road Safety Wales is proud to unveil this year’s winners of the fifth All Wales Multimedia Anti Drink Drive Competition which challenges schools, colleges and youth groups to devise, perform and record a multimedia presentation with an anti-drink-drive message in time for Christmas.
The competition, which was launched in September 2012, saw groups of 11-25 year olds invited to use a variety of genre – film, music, PowerPoint, poetry and animation – in order to convey a thought provoking three-minute film. For their considerable efforts, four regional winners have been selected by the judges to receive a prize of £500 for their school or college.
The North Wales winner is Yale College, Wrexham. Students from the college have entered the annual competition since its inception five years ago. The college media department submit entries of the highest quality and this year is no exception: “Where’s Nan?” shows the effects of the loss of a well-loved family member has on those left behind.
Adam Thomas, of Pembrokeshire College, has created an animation titled “Nightclub”. His winning entry for the Dyfed Powys region highlights how easily one drink can lead to another, with serious and possibly catastrophic results for all. The advice to take a bus, taxi or walk home from a night out is timely and sensible.
“Results Day” is the South Wales winning entry from Bridgend College. The film addresses the issues of young people drinking at home before they have even started their night out. The students who produced the film rightly point out that the consequences of drinking and driving can affect your whole life, but with a little thought, serious injury and/or death can be avoided.
The winning entry for Gwent comes from Coleg Gwent, Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone, in Ebbw Vale. This is the first time that the media department has submitted an entry to the competition, but we are sure that it will not be the last. “SatNav” takes a humorous, yet serious, look at the perils of drinking and driving.
Also highly commended this year, is the entry from Coleg Menai, Llangefni, Anglesey. This film graphically illustrates the turmoil that can haunt a person who has been irresponsible enough to get behind the wheel whilst impaired by drink or drugs.
A big thank you goes out to all those who contributed to the competition and to the local authority road safety officers and other partners who promoted the competition throughout Wales. A great deal of thought and research goes into the making of these entries and the young people involved are to be applauded for their efforts and talents in creating their excellent films.
Road Safety Wales feels that the hard work and ingenuity deserves a much wider audience, so each film has been uploaded to RoSPATube in the run up to Christmas.
Teenagers interested in learning more about safety on the road, at leisure, in the home or in the workplace should visit www.facebook.com/rospayouthnetwork.
– great message 
