Community and Home

The risks of the most common types of injuries (such as drownings, falls, poisonings, burns and scalds) exist both at home and in the community. In fact, for almost every age group, the home is the most common place that unintentional injuries occur ( source: CHIRPP, 2001).

People are surprised to learn that injury in and around the home is the leading cause of death among children and youth in Canada. Children need extra protection and care. They are curious and cannot easily recognize and avoid hazards.

What Information is Available?

In this section you will find safety tips, statistical data about unintentional injuries, and links to other resources outside of Health Canada.

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have put together the following information to help you provide a safe home environment:

• Home Safety Tips
• The Safe Living Guide - A Guide to Home Safety for Seniors
• Consumer Product Safety

You can read more below about safety and injuries at home and in the community:

• Falls
• Fire
• First Nations and Inuit Health
• Seniors
• Related Resources

Falls

• Report on Seniors' falls in Canada - Public Health Agency of Canada
• You can prevent falls: a series of fact sheets for seniors
• An inventory of Canadian programs for the prevention of falls among seniors living in the community
• A best practices guide for the prevention of falls among seniors living in the community
• Falls Prevention Initiative: Health Canada/Veterans Affairs Canada. Summaries of funded projects, 2000-2004
• Listing of initiatives for falls prevention among seniors living in the community

Fire

• Stop Cooking Fires Before They Happen!
• Barbecue Lighters Are Dangerous In The Hands Of Children!
• Smoke Detectors
• Burning Candles Can Be Dangerous
• Be Careful With Lighters And Matches
• Fire Safety For Children

First Nations and Inuit Health

• Injury Prevention and Control
• Injury Prevention - Publications

Seniors

• Seniors and Aging - Preventing Falls in and around Your Home
• Bruno and Alice - A love story in twelve parts about seniors and safety
• Stay Safe (poster) - There are 14 dangerous things in this poster. Can you spot them all?
• Workshop on Healthy Aging: Prevention of unintentional injuries among seniors
• Go for it! A Guide to choosing and using assistive devices
• Promising Pathways - A handbook of best practices
• Help yourself to assistive devices!
• Injury prevention for seniors and veterans CD-ROM
• Enhancing safety and security for Canadian seniors: setting the stage

Related Resources

For more information on how to protect your family and yourself, consult regularly the following sources:

• Health Canada's advisories and warnings
• It's Your Health food-related fact sheets