An Initiative of InSiGHt Health Consulting in partnership with RoSPA.
SafeZoneTM
How safe is your school?
Schools are an invaluable component of our society where the young are taught, mentored and molded. However, unfortunately, the reality is that schools can also be a place of mishap:
- Approximately 10%–25% of child and adolescent injuries occur on school premises, while approximately 4 million children and adolescents are injured at school per year [1]
- About 45% of playground-related injuries in the United States are severe–fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations, with most occurring at schools and day care centres [2]
- Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries. Of them, 82 (56%) died from strangulation and 31 (20%) died from falls to the playground surface [3]
- Burns, drowning and falls…. leading causes of death among children under the age of 15 years [4]
- 33.7 deaths per 100,000 per year respectively occur due RTI in Nigeria [5]
Additional Statistics
School Safety Management
- Up to 44.5% of parents do not know what a health and safety policy document is.
- Only 12.2% schools – most of which are private secondary schools -have a documented health and safety policy.
School Health
- A total of 108 children currently in school had been reportedly injured while in school within the last term especially those in private primary schools. Children in public secondary schools have the lowest incidence of injury.
- Bruises are the most common type of injury.
- In addition, a little more than half, 50.6% of schools- mostly the private secondary- have a suitable first aid box, only 43.6% of which have a trained first aider administering treatment to injured students/pupils.
- Only 18.0% of schools have a registered nurse that provides the basic health-care needs for students and staff with only 15.4% schools having affiliation to any nearby hospital/clinic in case of emergency.
- In furtherance, less than half -41.4% of the schools provide formal feedback on health-related incidences affecting school goers within the school.
Playground Safety
- Among the 25.5% of schools that have external playground equipment in good conditions, only 6.5% conduct monthly checks on the equipment.
Core Standards
- Also, 72.9% of schools have suitable toilets and washing facilities, 86.7% of which have adults/ staff toilets separated from those of the pupils/ students.
- Classrooms in 93.2% of schools are adequately ventilated while 74.5% have suitable lighting.
Corridors and walkways of 57.8% of schools are in good conditions and free of potholes and cracks.
Playground Safety
- Among the 25.5% of schools that have external playground equipment in good conditions, only 6.5% conduct monthly checks on the equipment.
SafeZone™
In response to this, InSiGHt Health Consulting Limited in collaboration with the Royal Society for Safety and Prevention of Accidents proudly presents to you SafeZoneTM.
SafeZoneTM was developed in collaboration with the Royal Society for Safety and Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), which is the foremost UK organization that has pioneered safety over the last 100 years. SafeZoneTM is a school safety accreditation system that provides a vehicle for assessing level of compliance to health and safety standards. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria and West Africa
Data sources
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. School health guidelines to prevent unintentional injuries and violence. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports 2001;50(No. RR-22)
Tinsworth D, McDonald J. Special Study: Injuries and Deaths Associated with Children’s Playground Equipment. Washington (DC): U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; 2001
Tinsworth D, McDonald J. Special Study: Injuries and Deaths Associated with Children’s Playground Equipment. Washington (DC): U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission; 2001
WHO/AFRO. Violence and Injury Prevention. 2013
WHO. Road safety in the WHO African Region. The Facts 2013.
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