Objective: To examine the provision of practical safety education by Child Safety Education Coalition (CSEC) organizations in England.
Design: A postal survey.
Setting: Providers of child practical safety education who were also part of CSEC.
Methods: In February 2010 all CSEC organizations were sent a self-completion postal questionnaire which aimed to elicit details of safety education activities, priorities, target groups and information about evaluation. Frequencies of responses were calculated.
Results: Responses were received from 60 organizations representing a response rate of 65%. They represented private, public and charitable organizations, and provided safety education for children aged 3 to 17 years. Respondents undertook a varied range of activities including talks, theatre work, utility distribution, experiential learning, hospital visits, and sports and leisure activities. The majority (n = 43, 72%) ran special events to teach children about safety and most often this occurred at least once a month (n = 28, 47%). Respondents provided education addressing the main causes of injury and mortality; road traffic injuries was the topic most often addressed (n = 42, 70%). Twenty per cent of respondents (n = 12) stated that they did not evaluate their activities and only one-third (n = 19, 32%) stated that they produced written reports.
Conclusion: Child safety education was delivered using a variety of techniques and was provided by a range of organizations. This highlights the opportunities that exist for teaching children risk competence. Additional support will be needed if evaluation activities are to be robust and fully documented.