Motor vehicle collisions (both on- and off-road), falls and intentional self-harm were ranked as the top safety concerns during a Safe Communities Wellington County (SCWC) priority-setting exercise at the Wellington County Museum and Archives on Nov. 22.
Sixty-two individuals representing over 30 Wellington County organizations, service agencies and departments attended the event.
“It is about the people in this room and working together,” said Wellington County OPP Inspector Scott Lawson.
“We all need to come up with strategies surrounding harm reduction to ensure we tackle these issues going forward.”
The day was structured around two pillars, beginning with the presentation of data that captures emergency room visits, hospital stays and mortality statistics as they refer to seven injury categories, including pedestrians and cyclists, motor vehicles, agricultural, machinery and tools, Sports and recreation, falls, accidental poisonings, and intentional self harm.
Participants were given the opportunity to contextualize the data, ensuring they understood the injury categories and the impact they have on the safety of residents living in Wellington County.
The second pillar was a qualitative assessment of the statistics by participants. Everyone was given a chance to rank two pre-selected injury categories per table based on a selection of statements.
Following those exercises, SCWC announced the injury rankings using the quantitative data presented at the beginning of the day, a public survey, and the qualitative assessment provided by the participants of the priority setting exercise.
Rankings, in order, were:
– motor vehicle collisions (on- and off-road);
– falls;
– intentional self harm;
– accidental poisonings;
– pedestrian and cyclists;
– Sports and recreation; and
-agricultural, machinery and tools.
The first SCWC priority setting exercise was undertaken in 2012 and resulted in intentional self harm, motor vehicle collisions and falls being designated as the top three local injury prevention priorities.
Organizers explained the detailed data will guide programs required to make an impact in each municipality throughout the county.
SCWC will also be looking at current partners throughout Wellington County to determine the best course of action and the influence everyone can have – not only in the top three priorities, but in all seven injury categories.
“We now have a solid and credible foundation on which to build our strategic plan,” stated SCWC co-hair Gregg Davidson.
Organizers note SCWC is always looking for individuals or organizations interested in partnering or participating with the committee. Contact program coordinator Christine Veit at safecwc@gmail.com for more information. Follow SCWC on Twitter @safecwc and on Facebook.
