Spotlight on EuroSafe- European Association for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion

Who are we?

EuroSafe, the European Association for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, is the network of experts committed to promoting safety and reducing injuries in Europe for all ages. EuroSafe is active in a wide range of areas such as child safety, adolescents and risk-taking, consumer safety, safety for seniors, vulnerable road users, sport safety, work safety, the prevention of suicide and self-harm and the prevention of interpersonal violence.

EuroSafe’s ethos of ‘together we can make a difference’ combines and builds upon members’ strengths and capacities in areas of good practice, surveillance, risk assessment and advocacy with industry and government. This creates a broad and strong platform at the European level for the relevant parties and stakeholders to work together to reduce injury.

Who do we represent?

EuroSafe represents more than 50 organisations and institutions ranging from specific institutions working in the broad field of injury prevention and safety promotion, to ministries of health and universities.

What is our mission?

To reduce both intentional and unintentional fatal and non-fatal injuries through increased coordination and strategies that combine and build upon existing strengths and capacities. In short, ‘Working together to make Europe a safer place’.  

What do we do?

EuroSafe is working to create sustainable collaborations among the various safety sectors and stakeholders in Europe. Our objective is to build on existing work carried out under the Commission’s public health programmes, enhance coordination and address gaps in all the major priority areas.

In line with the EC Council Recommendation on Injury Prevention and Promotion of Safety, adopted in May 2007, EuroSafe has identified the following priority issues for its Work Plan 2008-2013: child safety, adolescents and risk-taking, safety for seniors, safety of vulnerable road users, sport safety, prevention of injuries caused by products and services, prevention of self-harm and prevention of interpersonal violence and work safety.

Central to making progress in these issues at the European and national levels are the availability of comparable information and statistics on injuries and exchange of good practice. EuroSafe is leading the development and maintenance of a Europe-wide data clearinghouse and the establishment of a database identifying current evidence for prevention strategies. Both activities will support a coordinated approach across Europe to develop and implement national policies on the prevention of injuries.

EuroSafe currently has three Programmes and seven Task Forces which address the priority issues in a structured way. The Programmes have been operational for a longer time and have built up a strong level of sustainability while the majority of the Task Forces are in earlier, although varying, stages of development. The Programmes are child safety (European Child Safety Alliance), consumer safety and injury data. The Task Forces are adolescents and risk-taking, safety for seniors, sport safety, suicide and self-harm, violence prevention, vulnerable road users and work safety.

The Programmes and Task Forces are working towards:

Ensuring a better understanding of the size and the societal impact of the injury issue as well as prioritising the major causes which need to be addressed. Providing more accurate information on injury risks and hazards to safety as well as evidence-based good practice in injury control and safety promotion. Enhancing public health policies and funding for injury prevention and safety promotion. Creating and maintaining networks across all of Europe for sustainable collaboration in each of the different priority issues.

How do you get involved?

EuroSafe is looking to enhance partnerships particularly in areas where Programmes and Task Forces exist such as child safety, adolescents and risk-taking, consumer safety, safety for seniors, vulnerable road users, sport safety, the prevention of suicide and self-harm and the prevention of interpersonal violence.

Membership is open to any organisation or individual working in one or more sectors within the field of injury prevention and safety promotion.

For more information please visit our website. Our corporate brochure is also available here.

EuroSafe publishes a quarterly newsletter called the ‘Alert’ which is available here. If you wish to receive the Alert please send an e-mail to secretariat@eurosafe.eu.com.

There is also a Who is Who expert directory available in the Contact Directories section of our website. This is a networking tool for all involved in injury prevention and safety promotion. It is also an important tool for EuroSafe to be able to identify and invite experts in specific areas to participate in expert consultations around various EuroSafe activities and products. If you are an expert (e.g. researcher, practitioner, policy-maker or other stakeholder) in a particular field please sign up for the directory. You can register here