Canada Injury

Injury Ed has provided a self-assessment tool that is worth a look. You can check it out here.

It is important to measure and assess an organizations understanding and capacity of injury prevention. Unfortunately it is common for injury prevention information to not be properly understood and integrated, even among professional organizations. Of course a large part of the difficult is and always has been getting the necessary funding to do what needs to be done.

Assualt/Intentional/Suicide, Injury Prevention Self-Assessment, Violence

See the forum site here for more information.

The link between alcohol use and injuries in Canada is not to be underestimated.

The following quote from the Canadian Institute for Health Information Makes the point well:

June 22, 2005—New data released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) show that motor vehicle collisions were responsible for more than half (783) of the alcohol-related severe trauma hospitalizations in Canada in 2002–2003, representing a 9% increase over three years. Eight provinces reported 1,500 severe trauma hospitalizations due to alcohol (comparable data for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the territories were not available). Falls represented 21% of alcohol-related hospitalizations for severe trauma, while assaults and homicides represented 18%. Overall alcohol-related severe trauma hospitalizations increased 12% since 2000–2001, the first year for which data were available, with the largest increase reported among those aged 45 to 54 (28%).

Education, National Alcohol, Forum

“Every day, about 6,000 Canadians are injured and almost 40 die as a result of their injuries. It is the number one killer of children and young adults,” said Dr. Robert Conn, President and CEO of SMARTRISK. “Injuries cost Canadians an estimated $14.7 billion every year in health care expenses and lost productivity. This makes it the fourth-highest burden on the health-care system.”

Source

Statistics

Canada Injury has launched discussion forums about all things relevant to injury in Canada.

We encourage you to join and participate in these forums and make them a great place to share, support each other, and learn.

Canada Injury Discussion, Discussion Forum, Forums

This data on injury deaths in Canada is old, but it makes the point:

Statistics

The B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit has put out an excellent short PDF file about snowboarding and injuries in Canada.

The article covers what potential kind of injuries can result from snowboarding, which injuries are most likely, and what are the symptoms of injury. Ways to equip one’s self and pratice safer snowboarding are also addressed in a very practical and accessible manner.

Do print out this article and give it to any snowboarders you know. A little knowledge can go a long way.

Safety Tips, Sports Snowboarding

People underestimate the frequency of falls. In some geographic regions falls cause more brain injury than motor vehicle accidents.

Homeowners face many home maintenance tasks that could involve the use of the ladder.

Consumer reports has put together a good tutorial about ladder safety.

Safety Tips Ladder

In an article titled Helmets for injury prevention, Dr. James G. Wright, MD, MPH, FRCSC [Surgeon-in-Chief, Robert B. Salter Chair of Pediatric Surgical Research, and Senior Scientist, Population Health Sciences at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). He is also a professor in the Departments of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, and Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto] points out some facts about helmets and injury prevention for kids.

The following is the key points from the article:

-Nearly 20% of emergency room visits by Canadian children result from sports and recreation related activities
-Based on data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, 43% of injured children between five and nine years old had a head injury, and for those ten to nineteen years old about 25% had a head injury

Now, in regards to how well helmets work:

For bicycling: 88% reduction in head and brain injuries

For football: 84% reduction in serious head injury

For hockey: the data is not clear but helmets definitely prevent against serious head injury, face guards protect against eye injury, and the jury is out in regards to protecting against mild head and brain injury

For horseback riding: studies show helmets reduce risk of head injury (but no specific numbers are given)

For ice skating: since recent research has shown that ice skaters are about four times more likely to get a head injury than inline skaters it is highly recommended that helmets be worn

For ATVs and snowmobiles: head injuries are common and some provinces require the use of helmet so there is no question about whether or not helmets should be worn

For rugby: there has yet to be good evidence showing helmets helping much here

For skiing and snowboarding: 56% less chance of a serious brain injury but it’s not clear how much it may or may not prevent against milder forms of head injury

Some of the above numbers may be tied closely to the setting they are studied in and do not necessarily imply that the rates listed are the absolute rates for all contexts — but nonetheless they make their point.

Children, Injury Prevention Helmets

Most of the injuries we cover on Canada Injury are traumatic, moderate-severe, and the result of something that happened over a quick period of time. From time to time we like to cover some less severe injuries as well.

The Apple Ipod is the ubiquitous portable digital music player of preference. A few concerns have been raised about the Ipod: there was a concern about Ipods and lightning strikes (believe it or not). See this first report about the issue, and then this second clarifying report.

Of course with Ipods you have the concern about damage to hearing capacities — but this phenomena is well known and has been studied for years (do you remember audio cassette “Walkmans”?).

There is concern that Ipods might distract workers if they use them while working or to receive training, as is happening more often as work places try and implement modern technologies to their benefit.

The British Chiropractic Association has warned of repetitive strain injures — so called “Ipod finger” — that can result from improper use of the Ipod.

Don’t even get us started about the Nintendo Wii.

So what is the moral of the story? It certainly isn’t that we should be paranoid about everything we do because there is always some chance for some kind of injury. However, when trends among injury are identified an appropriate response, including product education, needs to be made whether for Ipods or Automobiles. Most people don’t read much of the manual, especially the safety warnings, so as much as possible safety warnings should be ergonomically placed and unavoidable.

Unusual Ipod, Lightning

In the Jan/Feb 2008 edition of Worksite News there is a short article titled Increased Enforcement vs. Workplace Injuries: An Ongoing Battle.

What we get from the report is that fatalities are still way too high, and while some statistics seem to be suggesting decreases in injury when you look closer that just does not seem to be the whole story.

Another key point is that improved enforcement of Occupational Health Safety laws have not shown a strong correlation with a decrease in injuries — at least not yet. Occupational Health and Safety laws and standards need a significant overhaul.

Occupational Fatality, Occupational, OHS, Workplace