Haus und Freizeit - bfu

4.3.4 Accident focal points and age-specific
risk groups
The analysis for the determination of accident focal
points shows that the «falls» accident segment
should play the most important role with regard to
the planning and realization of prevention activities.
From the point of «fatalities» (injury severity),
the two accident segments «Poisoning» and
«Burns, chemical burns» are also of particular importance.
The determination of age-specific risk groups is a
prerequisite for targeted prevention work (Table 2).
It should be noted that children and adolescents
pose a risk group in all segments except the «Animals»
accident segment. In the «Falls» accident
segment, all age segments (children and adolescents,
adults, senior citizens) must be considered
risk groups due to the high number of people injured
and killed. In the «Broken glass, sheetmetal,
etc.», «Animals» and «Equipment, tools, appliances,
machinery», the adult age segment is identified
as a risk group.
4.4 Prevention possibilities
4.4.1 «Falls» accident segment
The prevention of accidents among children and
adolescents is addressed more comprehensively
according to the literature (Table 3). In other
words, accident prevention is not just limited to the
home and leisure sector, but also includes the
areas of sports accidents and road traffic. Multidimensional
forms of intervention should be selected
because of the multifactorial risk factor profile. The
«setting» plays a sustainable role in the implementationally-oriented
planning of programs for fall
prevention. In this connnection, this refers less to
the scene of the accident or the place of action,
but rather on the environment in the sense of a
social setting. Effective accident prevention presupposes
good co-operation and interaction on the
part of the actors and/or multipliers. As – with
increasing age – the frequency of injuries among
older children/adolescents (10- to 16-year-olds)
shifts from the house and leisure sector to the
sports and road traffic accident sector, the relevance
of prevention opportunities in the home and
leisure accident sector is also reduced.
Table 2
Age-specific risk groups
Accident segments
Falls
Broken glass, sheetmetal, etc.
Animals
Equipment, tools, appliances,
machinery
Burns, chemical burns
Poisoning
Electrocution
Risk groups
Children and adolescents
Adults
Senior citizens
Children and adolescents
Adults
Adults
Children and adolescents
Adults
Children and adolescents
Children and adolescents
Children and adolescents
bfu-Sicherheitsdossier Nr. 09 Kurzfassung / Version abrégée / Riassunto / Condensed Version 73