Did you know?

A Perth, Australia forklift driver was killed during the making of a safety video. While demonstrating the safety aspects of a forklift, the 52-year-old man, was crushed after being thrown from the vehicle. According to WorkSafe WA, driver error and high speed appear to have caused the fatal accident. The man owned a machinery and equipment training school and was filming the video with a friend to assist in his training programs.
National Safety Council of Australia, Safety Bulletin #47, March 17, 2000 (Source: ABC News Online)

Edmonton police have expressed concern about a jump in the number of guns being used in local crimes. During the last two weeks of March, firearms (mostly handguns) were used in seven of 22 robberies. Police have seen an escalating number of illegal firearms on the streets, and believe many of the guns may be smuggled from the US.
Edmonton Sun, March 30, 2000

A provincial Adolescent Health Survey was administered in 1998 to 25,838 British Columbia students in grades 7 to 12. The recently released results show only 55 per cent of the students always use a seat-belt. Over a third of teen drivers said they had driven a car after using drugs or alcohol.
Healthier Youth, Spring/Summer 2000, The McCreary Centre Society

In 1996, British Columbia became the first North American jurisdiction to require bicycle helmet use by riders of all ages. Before the law was implemented, the overall wearing rate was 46 per cent. According to a study just released by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, the rate rose to 70 per cent in 1999. Helmet use increased across all age groups, male and female, but remains substantially lower in rural areas (58 per cent) than in the Vancouver and Victoria metropolitan areas (74 per cent).
Traffic Injury Research Foundation News Release, April 18, 2000

According to the US Bureau Labor Statistics, American taxicab drivers and chauffeurs have the greatest risk of being killed by a violent criminal act while on the job. In 1998 there were almost 18 homicides per 100,000, a rate 36 times higher than the total US workforce. Public police and detectives suffered the second highest occupational fatality rate from homicide, 4.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
WorldSafety.com news, April 28, 2000

Statistics for 1990 to 1994 show that Canada had the lowest homicide rate of member countries in the Americas, at 2.3 homicides per 100,000 population. Columbia had the highest rate (136.1), while the US rate was 11.8. However, Canada had among the highest rates of suicide, at 16.0 per 100,000, compared to Columbia at 5.2 and the US at 15.1. The rate of unintentional injuries is slightly higher in Canada (17.4) than the US ( 17.0), but lower than Columbia (26.3).
Injury Control and Safety Promotion, Volume 7, No. 1, March 2000. (Source: Pan American Health Organization)

The US Justice Department reports the rate at which American women were attacked or threatened by husbands and boyfriends declined 21 per cent during the mid 1990s; the number of men murdered by wives or girlfriends plunged 60 per cent from 1976 through 1998. The progress is credited to a general decline in serious crimes since 1992, as well as increases in shelters, telephone hotlines, restraining orders to protect battered spouses, and mandatory arrest for domestic violence incidents.
The Globe and Mail, May 18, 2000

Guns are the third leading cause of death among Canadians from ages 15 - 24 following motor vehicle accidents and suicide by other means. Guns kill more youth in this age group than cancer, drowning and falls combined. (Leonard, Katherine. "Firearm Deaths in Canadian Adolescents and Young Adults." Canadian Journal of Public Health. March-April, 1994.)

"Fake guns", such as airguns, BB guns, pellet guns, replicas and starter pistols are also a problem. Not only are they recovered in crime as often as handguns, each year there are over 50 children under 18 who require hospitalization for air gun injuries alone. Air guns are also the main cause for loss of an eye, secondary to trauma in children and young adults. (Marshall, David H. et al., Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, Vol 30, No. 4, 1995)