Consumer Coalition Looks for Safety in the Numbers
We’re eating less cholesterol, so heart attacks and strokes are down, and better medical treatment has resulted in a dramatic drop in AIDS-related deaths. But injuries from car crashes are on the rise, and there’s no place like home for being accidentally poisoned or falling down the stairs.
These are among the mix of messages from a 66-page report being issued today on America’s health and safety. The Coalition for Consumer Health and Safety--an unusual partnership of 37 consumer, health and insurance organizations--hopes the two-year checkup will prod the nation to clean up its act.
“This is no time to be complacent,” said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, which is overseeing the release of the findings in “The Nation’s Health and Safety: A Status Report.”
The study finds that more than 940,000 preventable deaths and millions of illnesses and injuries occur at a cost of more than $400 billion a year. And while the coalition is calling for continued financing of such agencies as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is equal emphasis on the human factor.
“Many of these accidents are behavioral,” said Consumer Federation spokesman Jack Gillis. “That means that many, if not all, could be prevented if you knew what to do and were willing to change your behavior.”
Buckling up seat belts is a prime example, he said. “In nearly all air bag injuries associated with children, the child was out of position. Air bags, which are officially designated Supplementary Restraint System, are designed for you to be buckled up.”
The report covers three general areas: home safety, transportation safety, and personal health and wellness. The information is broken down into eight chapters: motor vehicle safety, home and product safety, indoor air quality, nutrition, drinking water and food safety, tobacco use, alcohol consumption and AIDS.
While subjects such as automobiles, alcohol and tobacco make headlines regularly, health problems also lurk in more innocent areas, Gillis said. “Safety in the home is still an enormous challenge.”
Over the past three years, accidental deaths in the home rose from 24,000 to 26,400, with poisons the largest cause, followed by falls and fires. And accidental injuries rose from 6 million to more than 7 million, with stairs, floors or flooring material, knives and doors the leading causes. The deaths and injuries cost an estimated $95.1 billion in lost wages and other expenses.
The problem of stairs surfaces year in and year out, said Gillis. “We’re used to all kinds of repetitive motion behaviors, like putting a tape into a cassette--that doesn’t change. But stairs aren’t consistent--even Bill Clinton is a victim of falling on stairs. What this means is that we need to look at the fundamental design of stairs with an eye for consistency.”
The report, which is footnoted and illustrated with charts, graphs and tables, will be circulated among consumer and insurance groups, and sent to lawmakers and regulatory leaders, he said. “The data gives us the ability to put some pressure on people who can make change.”
