Title: THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT & ICEHS
Author:
Section/SPIG: Injury Control and Emergency Health Services
Issue Date:
SUGGESTIONS FROM JAKE PAULS (BLDGUSE@AOL.COM)
The following suggestions build on some comments I made at the ICEHS business meeting in November 2004 in San Francisco as well as the comment from ICEHS Chair, Anara Guard, in her Dec. 19th e-mail to ICEHS members: "Built Environment.This topic area had interested parties at the Annual Meeting. Is there enough interest out there to form a committee?" Because of APHA’s conference theme this year —- the environment -- action now by ICEHS members is important.
First, I believe a committee on the built environment would be a good idea, in part to link with developments in the APHA Environment Section where the Built Environment Institute (BEI) has been formed and put on a substantial program of sessions as part of APHA’s 2003 Annual Meeting. (If you would like to contribute to the Built Environment Institutes’ 2004 program please contact Neal Rosenblatt at <Neal.Rosenblatt@mail.state.ky.us> for specific instructions.)
Secondly, as a priority task for those interested in such a committee, I suggest we focus on the 2004 APHA Annual Meeting program organized by ICEHS. For example, is there enough interest to have a special session on falls and the built environment? Should such a special session have a broader scope such as the role of the built environment in unintentional injuries? For example, what is the role of the built environment in pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles? For such a special session I would like to include a presentation based on one of my proposals for the 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Vienna, June 2004: <http://www.safety2004.info>). This deals with my contention that “environmental factors in fall-related injuries are seldom assessed in detail. . . . This drastically affects the quality and relevance of conclusions about environmental factors in falls, especially from most research studies which typically do not include fall-site investigations.” Within the Vienna conference, that contention will be explored with special relevance to stair-related fall injuries (partly because European researchers on stair safety are expected to participate).
To have a special session in the APHA conference, we need some other abstract submissions to make it viable. Anyone interested in participating as a presenter in such a special session on the role of the built environment in unintentional injuries could contact me to discuss this.
Third, as requested at recent ICEHS business meetings, anyone interested in serving as an APHA representative on certain National Fire Protection Association (NFPA International) committees responsible for production of safety standards and codes should contact Jake Pauls, <bldguse@aol.com>. Currently, out of eight such committees, APHA does not have an alternate member on two technical committees (on Means of Egress and on Fundamentals) as well as the Technical Correlating Committee for the NFPA Life Safety Code. Here are opportunities to influence injury prevention in the built environment in a major way.
Jake Pauls Consulting Services in Building Use and Safety
12507 Winexburg Manor Drive, Suite 201
Silver Spring, Maryland 20906-3442
Tel: (301) 933-5275; Fax: (301) 933-5541;
Mobile: (301) 706-8830; E-mail: bldguse@aol.com