Injuries: policy context

The multi-agency nature of effective action against injuries is reflected in the many places accident and injury prevention appears within government and local policy. This includes, transport, fire, health and safety, and many other specific strategies.

The IOBI site provides a comprehensive and detailed summary of the relevant policy documents for the UK and Europe from 1998 onwards.

Recent policy documents and initiatives relevant to Scotland include:

Go Safe on Scotland's Roads it's Everyone's Responsibility: Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020 (Scottish Government 2010). A ten year road safety framework for Scotland including for first time road specific targets to Scotland which aim to reduce the number of serious injuries on Scotland's roads by half and the number of fatalities by 40 per cent over the next decade

The Early Years Framework (Scottish Government, January 2009). The framework signals Scottish local and national government's joint commitment to break cycle of inequalities in health, education and employment opportunities through prevention and early intervention and give every child in Scotland the 'best start in life'.

Child Safety Strategy: Preventing Unintentional Injuries to Children and Young People in Scotland, (December 2007)  (224kb) . This strategy was developed by the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the Child Accident Prevention Trust, in support of a Child Safety Action Plan for Europe although has yet to be formally endorsed by the Scottish Government.

The Child Safety Action Plan Project, is a European initiative led by the European Child Safety Alliance (ECAS) of Eurosafe (a EU funded programme of work to reduce both intentional and unintentional fatal and non-fatal injuries across Europe). The Child Safety project's aim is to develop government endorsed national action plans in countries in Europe that enhance child and adolescent safety. Child Safety Report cards have been developed as part of the Child Safety Action Plan Project and Scotland's report card is available from the ECAS website.

Healthy Working Lives: A Plan for Action, 2005 (August 2004) (1.37MB), sets out the Scottish Government's vision for the contribution that the workplace can make to health improvement and reducing inequalities.

A short life 'Falls' working group with representatives from Age Concern Scotland, Help the Aged for Scotland, National Osteoporosis Society, NHS Health Scotland, Agile, local authorities, the NHS and the Scottish Government, recommended a framework to enable falls prevention initiatives to be developed and progressed across Scotland. This advice was issued as a Health Department letter NHS HDL (2007) 13 (137kb) on 21 February 2007.

Choose Life. A National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Suicide in Scotland, 2002-2013, December 2002 (209kb). A ten year strategy and action plan to reduce suicide in Scotland. The strategy was launched in December 2002 and forms a key part of the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and WellBeing Action Plan in Scotland.

Specific initiatives, developed by local community safety partnerships, for tackling injuries and promoting safer communities across Scotland, can also be found on the Safer Scotland webpages.