Most of us think of accidents as, well, accidental. Not so, according to Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith of the Monash University Accident Research Centre. Her aim is to make people aware that many, if not most, accidents can be prevented, and to show them how. Sue McAlister reports.

Safe house: pool and driveway fencing, a protective surface under the swing, a wire cover over the fishpond and an adult watching through the kitchen window all help to prevent unnecessary injuries.

"About 150 years ago," says Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith, "people thought of infectious diseases as 'acts of God'. This is how we tend to think of accidents now. Yet accidents and injuries can be reduced or prevented in much the same way as illnesses can."

Professor Ozanne-Smith's base, the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), began its work in 1987 with a staff of three. It now has a staff of more than 70 and an annual budget approaching $5 million, and supports more than 100 projects seeking to advance knowledge in safety science, and in injury and accident prevention in the home, workplace, transport and elsewhere. Some of MUARC's projects involve cooperation with institutions overseas, including the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the US.

MUARC researchers Dr Lesley Day (left) and Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith are using injury statistics to help develop preventive strategies.

MUARC publishes an annual report, and its quarterly magazine, Hazard, is distributed widely in Australia and to 30 other nations. It lobbies government, industry and trade and consumer organisations to take action to reduce injuries, and uses the media to get its preventive message across, especially at times of high-profile incidents, such as when a toddler drowns in an unfenced swimming pool.

Professor Ozanne-Smith is director of MUARC's Victorian Injury Surveillance and Applied Research (VISS) project, which, she explains, collects details of deaths and injuries from the Bureau of Statistics, coroners and hospitals: "VISS then makes a systematic statistical analysis of accidents and injuries - how often and where they occur and what the risk factors are."

According to senior research fellow Dr Lesley Day, a recurring pattern of injury, such as among farmers using tractors, can identify a problem, leading to the development of prevention strategies and their implementation.

Top: A house in Traralgon, evaluated by MUARC, incorporated 52 safety features, including (bottom) a child-proof medicine cabinet hidden within a bathroom cupboard. Middle: MUARC is behind the push to introduce wide-based baby walkers into Australia.

This requires understanding and support from those who'll be affected. "For example," says Dr Day, "over several years a number of prominent individuals such as the Victorian Coroner, and organisations including VISS and the Victorian Work-Cover Authority, advocated protective structures on tractors to prevent deaths from roll-overs in Victoria.

Eventually, and with the support of the Victorian Farmers Federation, legislation was passed requiring all tractors to be fitted with protective structures, with a rebate offered to encourage farmers' compliance. A two-thirds reduction in roll-over deaths resulted. However, the key to obtaining this result was the commitment and active participation of the key stakeholders."

More research needed

It seems that humans, however, can be contrary creatures with British doctors claiming some teenagers give up riding bicycles rather than wear helmets. It has also been suggested that the protection provided by car seatbelts can induce some drivers to take risks.

So, research, some of it long-term, needs to be done and predictive models devised, not only to reveal how people may be injured by unsafe products and practices, but also how they may misuse products, including, bizarrely, items designed for their own safety.

It may be our refuge from the world, but the home can be dangerous - more men and women are killed from injury at home than anywhere else.

The principal causes of death and injury include falls (especially for the elderly), suicide and self-harm, accidental poisoning, and being hit, pierced, crushed and burned. To counter falls, MUARC recommends evidence-based precautions such as building homes on one level and installing slip-resistant floor surfacing.

This pie chart, devised by MUARC, reflects the current pattern of injuries in the home.

Even sedate household activities like sewing can be hazardous, and not just because scissors cut fingers as well as fabric. Injuries involving pins and needles are surprisingly serious - 90 per cent of piercing cases where they have been trodden on require admission to hospital. MUARC recommends that people 'sweep' the sewing area with a magnet, and that manufacturers include magnets in sewing kits.

Even products intended to alleviate illness at home can cause injury. MUARC says a new, mandatory safety standard covers electrical dangers associated with vaporiser units. But it neglects to address the causes of more common injuries, involving ingestions (for example, of eucalyptus oil) and burns, especially prevalent among children aged under two. MUARC's suggested solutions to the problem include design modifications and the removal of vaporisers from children's sleeping areas immediately after use.

Parents who wish to strengthen their infant's legs and increase their mobility sometimes put them into baby-walkers. These can, however, cause injuries. In the US, the introduction of safe design standards reduced such injuries by 50 per cent. Yet, MUARC says, there is no Australian safety standard for baby-walkers, because of a lack of public pressure.

- Sue McAlister

		For more information about MUARC or Hazard magazine, contact +61 3 9905 1808 or visit www.general.monash.edu.au/muarc